Sanders famously missed a painfully short putt for victory in regulation play, after backing out of his stance to remove something on his line.

If that spurned opportunity was not tough enough, Sanders then had to watch on 24 hours later as Nicklaus converted a birdie attempt on the same green to seal victory before celebrating with gusto.

A fired-up Nicklaus, who had driven through the green at the 18th minutes earlier, hurled his putter skywards, with Sanders forced to take evasive action as the club fell back to earth.

The Golden Bear had secured the Claret Jug for a second time at golf's most iconic venue, while his beaten rival could only reflect on what might have been.

Watch the Official Film from 1970 here and relive all of the drama from St Andrews.