Back in 1971 three men dominated the game. Defending Open champion Jack Nicklaus, two-time major winner Tony Jacklin and a ball of energy called Lee Trevino.
Trevino arrived at Birkdale having won the US Open and Canadian Open. He claimed not to be a fan of links golf. But after struggling to make an impact on his debut as Jacklin triumphed at Lytham in 1969, where he finished in a tie for 34th place, Trevino quickly came to embrace the challenge.
"I hated it," Trevino explained years later. "I thought there was a lot of luck involved. But the more I went to the UK and the more I played links golf, the more I fell in love with it."
Just 12 months later Trevino led The Open at St Andrews after 54 holes, only for Doug Sanders to miss a tiddler to win on the final green and lose to Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff the following day.
But something had clicked with Trevino. His confidence could not have been any higher as he teed it up at Royal Birkdale in 1971. He began with a birdie, setting the tone for the week.
Trevino, Nicklaus and Jacklin were among the leading contenders. Trevino and Jacklin ended the first round atop the leaderboard, alongside Howie Johnson and Vicente Fernandez, on four-under-par. Taiwan’s Lu Liang-huan, who wore a pork pie hat and became fondly known as Mr Lu, was among a group just a stroke behind.
Trevino dropped a couple of shots early in round two but he putted wonderfully, recovering to post a 70, enough for a share of the lead with Jacklin at halfway. "Every time I hit a putt the ball was looking for the hole," said Trevino. "I made everything I looked at. I was putting so well I could actually sense the break; I didn’t even have to read the putt. I had a hell of a run."
Mr Lu was still just a shot behind, with Roberto DeVicenzo and Gary Player tied for fourth on five-under-par.
While Trevino, on 11 under, would ultimately lead Jacklin by a stroke going into the final round, two British golfers thrilled the home galleries with some superb play of their own in round three.
Welshman Craig Defoy was one-under through 11 but played the final seven holes in six-under-par to take the clubhouse lead on seven-under. Defoy would go on to finish fourth, by far his best performance in any major.
And England’s Peter Oosterhuis set what was then a record low round on 66 at Birkdale on his way to a T18 finish.
All eyes, though, were on Trevino, who led after 54 holes for the second year in a row. This time he was in no mood to relinquish his advantage, birdieing four of the first six holes, going on to compile a front-nine 31.
"I came out firing," he said. So did Lu, who holed a monster birdie putt on the second to move to 11-under-par. Unfazed, and at home on the greens, Trevino landed a 20ft birdie putt of his own. He then drained a 40ft par putt on the eighth to stay on 15-under-par. When Lu dropped a shot at the ninth, Trevino led by five.
The final nine holes should have been a procession but Trevino got distracted by entertaining the crowd. By the time he reached the par-five17th, his lead was down to three and then he almost threw it away.
Trevino said: "That tournament shouldn’t have even been close. When on the 17th tee I had lost two shots. I shouldn’t have done that. It’s OK to interact with people, but not every second. I lost my concentration."
Disaster almost struck when he found a sand bank off the 17th tee, duffed his second and then hit his third into long rough, leading to a double-bogey seven.
Lu left a delicate pitch shot, his third, well short of the hole and missed the birdie putt, meaning Trevino took a one-stroke lead into the 18th, another par-5. And some calming words from his caddie - hall of famer Willie Aitchison - helped the Texan to re-focus.
"I was upset at what I did," he said, "but Willie says to me ‘Don’t get upset; you’re still leading'."
Lu applied as much pressure as he could. He hit a spectacular 150-yard third shot into just seven feet and holed the birdie putt.
Trevino, who had reached the back of the green in two, required a birdie to win by one stroke - and he duly obliged, before hurling his baseball cap into the air in jubilation.
Winning The Open at Royal Birkdale, to go alongside the US Open and Canadian Open victories, completed "a hat-trick unparalleled in the annals of golf," according to legendary commentator Henry Longhurst, so outrageous was Trevino's 20-day spell of dominance.
Trevino went on to defend the Claret Jug at Muirfield the following year, breaking Jacklin’s heart and resistance with a series of outrageous shots, and remains one of only seven players since the Second World War to have claimed back-to-back victories at The Open.
