{{ubiquityData.prevArticle.description}}
{{ubiquityData.nextArticle.description}}
Our Royal St George’s Recap series looks back on the five most recent Open Championships to have been held at the venue for The 149th Open in 2021.
This time, we recall Sandy Lyle’s triumph at Sandwich in 1985, which saw the Scot become the first British winner of The Open in 16 years.
Lyle, who had been in attendance at The Open as an 11-year-old when Tony Jacklin won at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1969, delighted the crowd by coming from behind on the closing holes to secure a hugely popular victory.
Strong winds and a challenging layout made scoring tough throughout the week, with Lyle and David Graham the only players under par at the halfway stage.
Lyle looked to have left himself too much to do when he lost three strokes to Graham on Day 3, before failing to make up significant ground for much of the final round.
However, crucial birdies at the 14th and 15th lifted the home favourite back to the top of the leaderboard and he could afford a bogey at the last as the final pairing of Graham and Bernhard Langer each dropped shots on the difficult homeward stretch.
To read more about The 1985 Open and watch the Official Film of the Championship, visit: https://www.theopen.com/Latest/Royal-St-Georges-Recap-Sandy-Lyle-1985.
The R&A