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The Open's Most Popular Winners

Jaime Diaz ranks the most celebrated wins in British Open history.

By Jaime Diaz

July 21, 2011

Darren Clarke's victory last Sunday at Royal St. George's hit many high notes on the popularity index. The burly 41-year old Ulsterman with the open smile has long been a charismatic figure with European fans in particular. He's also paid heavy dues: tough loses in previous British Opens, a recent slump that seemed to portend his end as a winning golfer, and in 2006, the death of his wife Heather to cancer. So when Clarke was announced as "The Champion Golfer of the Year," it loosed the kind of full-throated roar from the grandstands that has been rarely heard. Here are the five other occasions when the popularity of the winner was even greater.

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1. Seve Ballesteros, 1984

Ballesteros always referred to the holing of his 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th at St. Andrews as "El Momento," and it was indeed a magical moment. Battling down the stretch with Tom Watson, who was also the Spaniard's chief rival for the unofficial title of Best Player in the World, Ballesteros was at his best, hitting a pure 6-iron onto the 17th green at the Road Hole for a crucial par. Tied for the lead one hole behind, Watson hit his approach onto the road. As Watson was making bogey, Ballesteros stroked his final putt, the ball dying at the cup. "I think with my interior energy, I put it inside myself," Ballesteros said last year. "I think so." When it dropped, the intimately massed throng of people around the Home Hole exploded, and Seve was king.

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