It was expected that recent American dominance of the majors would continue at the British Open, but instead Carnoustie delivered Italy's first ever winner of the Claret Jug in the shape of Francesco Molinari.
Perhaps it was not the outcome that the huge crowds thronging the fairways on Sunday were hoping for, especially as Molinari's playing partner Tiger Woods looked in line at one point to claim his first major in a decade.
But while Woods faded after dropping three strokes in two holes at the 11th and 12th, Molinari kept his cool to shoot a second consecutive bogey-free round.
His 69 left him eight under par, two shots clear of his nearest challengers including Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, three ahead of Woods and four shots ahead of last year's winner Jordan Spieth.
Molinari is a rare golfer from continental Europe to lift the Claret Jug -- Sweden's Henrik Stenson triumphed at Royal Troon in 2016 but before him you have to go back to Seve Ballesteros in 1988.
The 35-year-old also finally delivered a major win for his country, going one step further than Costantino Rocca, who famously lost in a play-off to John Daly at St Andrews in 1995.
And he hopes his victory will have an impact back home in Italy, where Formula One is usually just about the only sport that competes with football for the headlines.
"The last round already was big news in Italy. Obviously, to achieve something like this is on another level," said Molinari, who started the day six under par, three shots off the lead.
"Hopefully, there were a lot of young kids watching on TV today, like I was watching
"He's experienced some bad injuries and two hand surgeries, but he's come back from this one again already. I wish him all the best, and I'm sure this will motivate him even more to achieve some great things in the game of golf in the future, and hopefully we'll be competing more together again very soon."
- Ryder Cup boost -
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