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Carnoustie first played host to The Open Championship in 1931, after modifications to the course by James Braid in 1926. The winner then was Tommy Armour, from Edinburgh.Later Open winners at Carnoustie include Henry Cotton of England in 1937, Ben Hogan of the USA in 1953, Gary Player of South Africa in 1968, Tom Watson of the USA in 1975, Paul Lawrie of Scotland in 1999 and Pádraig Harrington of Ireland in 2007. The last three championships were all won in playoffs. The Championship course was modified significantly (but kept its routing used since 1926) prior to the 1999 Open, with all bunkers being rebuilt, many bunkers both added and eliminated, many green complexes expanded and enhanced, and several new tees being built. A large hotel was also built behind the 18th green of the Championship course. The Amateur Championship was first hosted by Carnoustie in 1947; the winner was Willie Turnesa. The world's oldest amateur event has returned three times since: 1966 (won by Bobby Cole), 1971 (won by Steve Melnyk), and 1992 (won by Stephen Dundas). The British Ladies Amateur was first hosted by Carnoustie in 1973, and will return for the second time in 2012. The Senior Open Championship was held at Carnoustie for the first time in 2010, with Germany's Bernhard Langer winning. The Women's British Open will be held here for the first time in 2011. Carnoustie is one of the three courses hosting the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, an event on the European Tour; the others are the Old Course at St Andrews and Kingsbarns. The Golf Channel's reality series The Big Break, in which aspiring golfers compete for exemptions on professional tours and other prizes, filmed its fourth season at Carnoustie in 2005. As that year also saw the Ryder Cup at The K Club in Ireland, that year's show was based around a US vs Europe theme, with the two teams competing for European Tour exemptions. In North America, the course is infamously nicknamed "Car-nasty," due to its famous difficulty. Carnoustie is considered by many to be the most difficult course in the Open rota, and one of the toughest courses in the world. The term Carnoustie effect dates from the 1999 Open, when the world's best players, many of whom were reared on manicured and relatively windless courses, were frustrated by the unexpected difficulties of the Carnoustie links, which was compounded by the weather. One much-fancied young favourite, a 19-year-old Sergio García of Spain, went straight from the course to his mother's arms crying after shooting 89 and 83 in the first two rounds. The Carnoustie effect is defined as "that degree of mental and psychic shock experienced on collision with reality by those whose expectations are founded on false assumptions." This being a psychological term, it can of course apply to disillusionment in any area of activity, not just in golf. The 1999 Open Championship is best remembered for the epic collapse of French golfer Jean Van de Velde, who needed only a double-bogey six on the 72nd hole to win the Open—and proceeded to shoot a triple-bogey seven, tying Paul Lawrie and 1997 champion Justin Leonard at 290, at six over par. Lawrie won the playoff and the championship (and Van de Velde won a place in sports infamy). The Open Championship was once again contested at Carnoustie in July 2007. The eight-year absence was far shorter than the lengthy 24 years it took to return to Carnoustie, between 1975 and 1999. Harrington triumphed over García in a four-hole playoff. The 18th hole once again proved itself among the most dramatic and exciting in championship golf. Harrington had a one-shot lead over García as he approached the final hole in the fourth round, but proceeded to put not one but two shots into the Barry Burn on his way to a double-bogey 6. García, playing in the final pairing of the day, reached the 18th with a one-shot lead over Harrington, but bogeyed the hole, setting up the playoff. In the four-hole playoff, which ended on the 18th, Harrington took no chances with a two-shot lead on the 18th; his bogey was enough to defeat García by one shot. |
