Only two players previously had rallied from five strokes behind with a round to play to win The Open before Justin Leonard completed the feat at Royal Troon in 1997.
Jim Barnes at Prestwick in 1925 and Tommy Armour at Carnoustie in 1931 managed the achievement to win by a stroke.
But while Leonard also came back from a deficit of five, such was his devastating finish, and the quality of his putting, that the 25-year-old from Dallas, playing in his fourth Open, won by three strokes from Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik.
