He is the golfer who was in contention to win The Open before he broke his leg and had to withdraw

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The Open Championship is the most famous, and oldest, tournament in professional golf.

Champions include Tom Morris Snr in the mid 1800’s, to James Braid in the early 1900’s and Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen from the 1920’s to the 1930’s.

Then the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods all won The Open Championship from the 1960’s all the way through to the 2000’s.

It is undoubtedly the most prestigious trophy to win in golf.

In order to be successful and win the Claret Jug, all departments of your game have to be in tip-top condition.

Rory McIlroy will be looking to win his second Open Championship later this year at Royal Portrush, although that will be incredibly difficult to do considering the pressure that will be on his shoulders.

Whilst The Open has served up some incredibly unforgettable moments throughout its history, there is one man whose story is perhaps the most interesting.

Richard Boxall was in contention to win The Open before he broke his leg and had to withdraw

Way back in 1991, Richard Boxall had a real chance of winning The Open at Royal Birkdale.

He was sitting in 10th position, just two shots off the lead after two rounds, before disaster struck.

What happened after he hit his tee shot with a 1-iron on the ninth hole was truly shocking.

Boxall collapsed to the ground as his leg literally snapped in two.

The Englishman, who now works as a commentator for Sky Sports, was robbed of the chance of becoming a major champion.

He never won a tournament after that incident at Royal Birkdale, nor did he really challenge.

Poor old Boxall – that has to be the worst lucky any tour player has ever had on the golf course.

Richard Boxhall’s leg break at The Open in his own words

“It made me feel ill, looking at it. What a noise my leg made when it snapped.

“After the second round I had a funny feeling down my leg and spoke to Chubby Chandler, my manager at the time. He said I was probably just a bit edgy.

“On the range warming up, I couldn’t commit to any shot, but I was still able to hit it. I said to Monty round the first tee that something was wrong with my leg. But he didn’t know what was coming up and nor did I.

“Any uphill shots were easy because I was able to take some of my weight off the leg, but downhill ones were bad news. I had two shanks and then I just couldn’t crouch down to look at putts as I normally would.

“On the eighth both of us hit one-iron, but I was a long way behind Monty and he asked if there was something wrong.

“I bogeyed the hole, got to the next tee, took a drink and thought to myself ‘I must commit to this next shot’.

“I still didn’t know what it was, but it was a bizarre feeling.

“No disrespect to 24-handicappers, but I felt like one. I hit the one-iron again and as I did there was this noise like a sack of potatoes splitting and I screamed and collapsed.

“I’m told the ball flew 240 yards and was right next to Monty’s. I was conscious, but didn’t know what was going on.

“Everybody around was wide-mouthed, but miraculously there was an orthopaedic surgeon watching and he came on the tee. Then an ambulance arrived and took me away.”