ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- The British Open was a mirror of John Daly's life. First it was under control. Then it wasn't. Then it was.


Perhaps now everything will turn out as well for Daly as it did Sunday when he won the 124th British Open on the Old Course.


"To win here at St. Andrews is just a lifetime's dream and for me it's come true,'' the American said after he defeated Italy's Costantino Rocca in a four-hole playoff.


The victory did not come easily. Daly, 29, blew a three-stroke lead down the stretch, narrowly escaped disaster at the notorious Road Hole bunker and then watched Rocca force a playoff with a 20-meter birdie putt after Rocca muffed a chip into the Valley of Sin on the final hole.


It's sort of the way things have gone for Daly since he won the 1991 U.S. PGA Championship. He's been through alcohol rehabilitation and two suspensions because of his behavior in the last two years.


"I had a problem dealing with things off the golf course and I think that drinking was part of that,'' Daly said. "I don't think I would be here today if I were still drinking.''


The playoff was almost an afterthought following the dramatics at 18. Rocca three-putted the first extra hole to fall a stroke behind, slipped two back when Daly rolled in a 12-meter birdie on the second hole and lost all hope when he hit the Road Bunker on the next hole.


Daly played the four-hole playoff in 15 strokes, four better than Rocca.


Rocca needed to get his short pitch close on the 18th for the birdie to tie Daly, but he scuffed it short of the green.


"It's not over yet,'' Daly said, watching on television. He was right.


Rocca took out his putter and rolled the ball into the cup 20 meters away.


As the ball disappeared, Rocca collapsed to the ground, face down, and pounded his fists on the earth.


With wind gusts nearing 65 kilometers per hour blowing virtually everyone else's scores sky high, Daly shot a steady 71 as he and Rocca, who closed with a 73, finished at 6-under-par 282, one stroke ahead of Mark Brooks, Steve Bottomley and third-round leader Michael Campbell.


Steve Elkington and Vijay Singh were two strokes behind at 284. Corey Pavin, Mark James and Bob Estes finished at 285.


"To win a major championship sober is incredible,'' Daly said, clutching the trophy.


He is the first American since Mark Calcavecchia in 1989 to win the British Open.


It also gave the Americans a sweep of the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open and British Open this year after losing all four major championships last year.


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The tournament was also Arnold Palmer's last British Open, and the last until 2000, when the tournament returns to St. Andrews, for three-time champion Jack Nicklaus who has played in every one since 1962.


But another triple winner, Gary Player, at 59 four years older than Nicklaus and six younger than Palmer, said he will play every one until his exemption expires in 2000. He shot a 295, one better than Nicklaus, and is the oldest golfer to make the cut at a British Open. (AP, Reuters)