On this day: July 21, 1979 – Seve Ballesteros’s legendary Open win

Sport360 staff 09:22 21/07/2015
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  • Legend: Seve Ballesteros.

    No one did it quite like Seve Ballesteros, at least at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, and it’s safe to say no one will win golf’s Open Championship playing the way he did in 1979.

    The incandescent Spaniard flourished at the course, winning his first of three Opens (and five majors over-all) at an event that left him somewhat uncharitably remembered as the Car Park Champion.

    That’s because he hit a shot out of a temporary car park arranged near the 16th fairway — somehow still in bounds — and birdied the hole, too.

    He defeated Jack Nicklaus by three shots on this day in 1979 and cemented an instant legend he expanded nine years later by returning to win another Open.

    Other memorable events that happened on this day…

    1964: New Zealand’s Mildred Simpson breaks the world record for a marathon in a time of 3:19:33 in Rotterdam.

    1985: Bernard “The Badger” Hinault wins his fifth and last Tour de France title. He remains the last Frenchman to have captured the Tour.

    1989: Mike Tyson knocks out Carl Williams in 93 seconds to retain heavyweight boxing title. It was Tyson’s second quickest title fight.

    1996: Wayne Gretzky signs a twoyear deal with the NY Rangers.

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