DRAMA is usually part of the package when the Open Championships comes to Carnoustie. So it proved again this July, when the Claret Jug returned to this little corner of the Angus coastline for only the second time since Paul Lawrie’s epochal victory in 1999 and once again a local man made it onto the winner’s rostrum.

Okay so it might not have trumped Jean van de Velde removing his socks and shoes to splash around in the Barry Burn as he spurned the three-shot lead he had up his sleeve on the 72nd hole 19 years ago.

And even the tournament’s last visit here saw Sergio Garcia reduced to tears after losing a play-off to Ireland's Padraig Harrington.

But for a while on the final day, as a resurgent Tiger Woods was top of the leaderboard, his every stride being followed by the kind of galleries rarely seen in this game, headline writers were steeling themselves for one of sport’s all-time stories.

Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were also in the mix down the stretch, but ultimately it was another man who determined that this was HIS moment. Emerging strongest from this all-star cast was Francesco Molinari, who celebrated becoming Italy’s first ever major champion.

Without a bogey on his card since Friday, he was imperious all weekend long, rattling off rounds of 65 and 69 as he overhauled Woods early in the back nine to seal a two-shot win over Rose, McIlroy, Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffle.

This was the ninth win of Molinari’s career, eclipsing his second-place finish in the US PGA in 2017, and he hasn’t looked back since.

As if there was any doubt, the popular little Italian confirmed his class by being the strong man of the victorious European Ryder Cup team at Le Golf National, ending up in bed with England’s Tommy Fleetwood for a humorous video blog to celebrate the pair’s unbeatable double act which went viral.

Most of Scotland’s top golfers didn’t have too much reason to look back fondly on their Carnoustie experience. Russell Knox, the winner of the Irish Open just a few weeks before, failed to make the cut, as did his countrymen Scott Jamieson, Grant Forrest and Sandy Lyle – the veteran playing what could be his last Open championships for some time.

But the parochial interest was provided by a 19-year-old from Stonehaven called Sam Locke, the sporting symmetry perfect when you consider that he is a product of the Paul Lawrie Foundation and a part-time coffee shop worker at Lawrie's golf centre in Aberdeen.

The amateur had actually gone out in the very first three-ball of the championships, setting his alarm for 3.45am with a tee-off time three hours later.

It wasn’t an auspicious start as he bogeyed the second hole and double-bogeyed the third.

Yet fast-forward four days and remarkably this same young man was the only Scot who made the cut – keeping alive an all-time record where a native of this country has always played all four rounds – and taking the silver medal for the highest finishing amateur.

He rallied for an opening round 72, went round in 73 on his second round and even threw in a 70 on day three.

Things didn’t exactly go his way with a 78 on the final day to leave him tied for 75th, but he had much to celebrate as he turned professional shortly after becoming the first Scot since Lloyd Saltman to be the top finishing amateur at the Open.

Who took this honour the last time the Open came to Carnoustie in 2007? A certain Rory McIlroy.