The Open is always a highlight of the sporting calendar, but my first, in 1964 was special in many ways. Firstly I had just started to play golf, and in the first flush of enthusiasm, I could not wait to see the stars, especially as The Open was returning to St Andrews.

The first visit to The Old Toon is special, the whole atmosphere is unique, one that never dulls however many times you visit. This was to be one year that was different, for the winner was American Tony Lema. Champagne Tony had the audacity to arrive late in St Andrews, begin the Open Championship without playing a full practice round on the Old Course, and then beat the field out of sight.

He arrived without a caddy, and then had the very good fortune to engage the local expert Tip Anderson, who usually had the bag of Arnold Palmer ( he did not travel that year), so had been with Bruce Devlin and been paid off when they did not get beyond the qualifying rounds, setting him free to work with Lema, and history was probably changed.

Tony Lema came for the Open Championship with very impressive credentials, for he had won three of his last four tournaments, and had just beaten Arnold Palmer in a play off for the Cleveland Open. The year before at The Masters he had lost out narrowly when Jack Nicklaus holed a twenty foot putt on the last green.

He was a remarkable character, his first pro job had been in Nevada, in a town called Elko, which had three casinos. The eligible bachelor took to the high life, and was soon famed for his lifestyle, wine, women and song became his motto, and his wee hours escapades were well reported. When he won his first tournament, he thought he was out of the running, and had retired to the bar as was his custom, he was ordering his fourth drink when told he was in a play off with Paul Harney. Off he went and duly won.

He became the debonair man about town in Miami, Las Vegas and San Francisco, always with a beautiful woman on his arm, the kid from cannery row had made the transition to successful golf pro and never looked back. He was a man enjoying life, but his game was inconsistent until he overheard Arnold Palmer describing his approach to the game. He heeded Arnie?s words and then he began to make an impact, and his nickname soon followed.

In 1962 at the Orange County Open in California, at the third round press conference he told the press corps that if he won, there would be champagne in the room the next day. Surprising really as his favourite drink was scotch and water. After winning at the third extra hole, he ordered the champagne, and his persona was born, the start of a champagne celebration each and every time he won.

He married air hostess Betty Cline in 1963, a girl he had met playing cards on a flight in 1961. She changed his life, travelled with him to tournaments and helped bring in his most successful years. He became a very good putter, and when he holed a long one he went into a jig, that endeared him to the galleries. He rarely practiced, one golf veteran said ? he has played a major event and never hit a bucket of balls all week? He had learned that he had to stay loose to play well, and 1964 was a good example, when he notched five victories, a good year for the pressroom champagne.

So it was not surprising that the laid back approach was evident from the moment he arrive for the Open Championship, he had absolutely no experience of links golf, but that did not concern him, and he had decided to play with the small ball, which was optional at that time, probably at the behest of Tip Anderson.

The weather on the first day was awful, strong winds particularly later in the day, and Lema carded a 73, with a huge putt on the last green to end the round. The second day he was the only man to break seventy, his 68 had only 33 putts. His second successive 68 put him seven shots clear of the field, and his final round 70 meant he had won by five shots.

In the press tent he told them 'If you wanna talk to me shout, because I am on cloud nine'

His bill was for twenty cases of champagne, after admitting that Tip Anderson had won half of the Claret Jug, always putting the right club in his hands.

Tony continued to achieve top ten finishes in the majors of 1965, but had a bitter pill to swallow at Wentworth in the World Matchplay Championship in the autumn. He was seven up with sixteen holes to play, when Gary Player, the matchplay expert, went on a charge, and beat him on the first extra hole.

The following year disaster struck, after a good finish in the Masters, he was flying from an event in Akron Ohio, having decided to change his schedule. The light plane that was carrying Lema and his wife Betty, got into trouble and stalled, ironically it crashed on a golf course at Lansing Illinois, trying to make an emergency landing. Tony and Betty and all the crew were killed instantly, and golf had lost one of it's great players, much as would happen may years later to Payne Stewart.

The events of the sixties will never be repeated, Champion golfers that had a charisma all their own, Arnold Palmer, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Roberto de Vincenzo, Gary Player and to end the decade our own Tony Jacklin. A victory that was to be endorsed with further success in the US Open, the following year at Hazeltine, and the start of the re-emergence of European golf.