Ian Baker-Finch and Brett Rumford both knew how to make an impression.

Playing in his first major championship after winning the 1983 New Zealand Open, Baker-Finch shot 68-66 in the opening two rounds of The Open Championship at St Andrews to take the 36-hole lead, for a moment overshadowing the likes of Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros.

Rumford, a West Australian who took out the Australian Amateur in 1998, hadn’t even joined the professional ranks when he won the ANZ Players Championship a year later at the fourth playoff hole against Craig Spence, a controversial win given his amateur status.

With a fashion palette that wasn’t afraid to embrace pink, Baker-Finch was destined to stand out for more than just his prodigious talent.

After his major entrée at St Andrews, ‘IBF’ joined the European Tour and notched his first win in 1985 at the Scandinavian Open.

He was invited to play on the PGA TOUR for the first time later that year and continued to share his ability with the world.

He won twice in Europe, twice on the PGA TOUR, three times in Japan and 10 times back on the Australasian Tour, his crowning glory the 1991 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Sitting in a tie for 28th through 36 holes, Baker-Finch produced 27 holes of rare brilliance to set up his major triumph.

A 6-under 64 allowed Baker-Finch to join Mark O’Meara at the top of the leaderboard and when he played the first seven holes on Sunday in 5-under par – shooting 29 for the front nine – he had taken the tournament by the scruff of the neck.

Following his shock win at Royal Queensland in 1999 Rumford turned professional in 2000 and by 2001 was plying his trade in Europe, his five-stroke win at the 2003 Aa St Omer Open in France set up by a course record 64 in the opening round.

Hailed as possessing one of the best short games in all of professional golf to this day, Rumford won again in 2004 and 2007 before achieving the rare feat of winning in successive weeks in 2013, first claiming the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea and then the Volvo China Open a week later.

Those two wins and a top-10 at the Volvo World Match Play in his next event propelled Rumford to a career high world ranking of 74.

Ian Baker-Finch
Career wins: 17
Major wins: 1 (1991 Open Championship)
PGA TOUR wins: 2
European Tour wins: 2
Australasian Tour wins: 10
Australian Open: 2nd (1983)
Australian PGA: Won (1993)

Brett Rumford
Career wins: 9
European Tour wins: 6
Australasian Tour wins: 3
Australian Open: 3 (2014)
Australian PGA: 5 (2016)