Golf · 1979 · Lytham St Annes, England
The Car Park Open
A wild tee shot into a temporary car park does nothing to stop a 22-year-old Spaniard becoming the youngest Open champion of the 20th century, playing some of the most instinctive golf the Open has seen.
Won by 3 strokes
Result
22
Age
Youngest Open champion of the 20th century
Distinction
Seve Ballesteros played the 1979 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes with a driver that frequently found trouble and a short game that consistently escaped it, a combination that became the defining story of his career. On the final round's 16th hole, his tee shot flew well right of the fairway into a temporary car park being used for spectator parking.
Given a free drop under the rules for the man-made surface, Ballesteros found himself with an unobstructed if unconventional lie, and pitched to within twenty feet before holing the putt for birdie, a recovery so improbable that the tournament earned an informal nickname on the spot: the Car Park Open.
Ballesteros finished three strokes clear of Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw to win his first major title at 22, becoming the youngest Open champion of the century to that point and the first golfer from continental Europe to win the Claret Jug since the 1900s. It announced a swashbuckling, recovery-shot style of play that would define his career and inspire a generation of European golfers who followed him.
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