The gold medal of Orville Moody, winner of the US Open in 1969, was expected to be snapped up by a golf enthusiast but failed to reach its reserve price.

The medal, valued at £30,000, will be returned to its anonymous owner following the unsuccessful sale in Edinburgh.

Auction house Lyon and Turnbull said the collector may decide to sell it at a later date.

A spokesman said: “There was interest in the medal today but it didn’t get up to the reserve price.

“It’s up to the owner what will happen to it now. He may decide to sell again with a reduced reserve price.”

Moody was the last US Open champion to come from sectional and local qualifying, making it through only by the narrowest of margins in Memphis.

The former army sergeant, from Yukon, Oklahoma, spent 14 years in the military before joining the Professional Golfers’ Association tour in 1967.

Posted: 02|8|06 at 8:31 am. Filed under: UK News.