Loose Impediments: The Peacock’s Missed Putt

Dubbed the ‘Peacock of the Fairways’ for his trend setting mock turtlenecks and love of clothes, the flamboyant Doug Sanders won 20 tournaments over the course of a PGA Tour career that spanned three decades. Unfortunately for Sanders, it was the tournament that he didn’t win that defined his career.

At the 1970 British Open, Sanders was in line to capture what would’ve been considered by far the greatest victory of his career on the most revered golf course in the world, the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews.

Sanders who was trying to hold off a surging Jack Nicklaus reached the 72nd green with the only obstacle standing in his way, a knee knocking 30-inch sidehill putt. He missed the putt sliding it by the right edge of the hole. The rest is golf history and in Sanders’ case, golf infamy.

If the putt dropped it would have given Sanders a one shot win over Jack Nicklaus. Instead, the two would play an 18-hole playoff the next day. Sanders would play solid throughout the playoff, but as Nicklaus did so many times during his career, he sank clutch putts at crucial moments, rolling in an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Sanders by one shot.

Since the 1970 British Open, Sanders has revealed that his mind does wander to that putt he missed on the 72nd green “only about every four or five minutes.”