The Phantom of the Open - Maurice Flitcroft, the World's Worst Golfer - NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING MARK RYLANCE

The hilarious, heartwarming and - unbelievably - true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the World''s Worst Golfer

''The story of its greatest anti-hero is just what the game needs'' Spectator

When 46-year-old crane driver Maurice Flitcroft chanced his way into the Open - having never before played a round of golf in his life - he ran up a record-worst score of 121. The sport''s ruling classes banned him for life.

Maurice didn''t take it lying down. In a hilarious game of cat-and-mouse with The Man, he entered tournaments again - and again, and again - using increasingly ludicrous pseudonyms such as Gene Pacecki, Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel (more often than not disguised by a fake moustache).

In doing so, he sent the authorities into apoplexy, and won the hearts of fans from Muirfield to Michigan, becoming arguably the most popular - and certainly the bravest - sporting underdog the world has ever known

''Hilarious'' Esquire