Max Faulkner fulfilled his own prophecy to win the 1951 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, becoming the first champion at the venue. The Englishman, who had signed a ball for a young fan before the final round declaring himself champion, held a six-shot lead but nearly faltered. Despite an errant drive on the 1st hole, he secured victory by two strokes, a feat not repeated by an English golfer until Tony Jacklin in 1969.
Faulkner, who died in 2005 aged 88, relied on intuition and experience in an era without modern technology. He switched to a pencil-slim putter weighing just 11 ounces to cope with Portrush's super-quick greens, which he described as the fastest he had ever seen for an Open. His opening rounds of 71 and 70 gave him a two-shot lead, with the putter requiring only 27 and 24 putts respectively.
In the third round, Faulkner produced what playing partner Frank Stranahan called 'the greatest shot I've ever seen'. After a wayward drive on the 16th hole, his ball landed next to a barbed-wire fence. He executed a deliberate slice with his four-wood, lifting the club steeply to avoid the fence, and found the green to save par.
The final round saw Faulkner's lead shrink, and he shanked his approach on the 18th, which ricocheted off a spectator's chest. He recovered with a superb shot to the green and two-putted for bogey, signing for a 74. Without giant scoreboards, he did not know if it was enough, but his earlier lead proved sufficient.
