LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Crushingly for Adam Scott, he was absolutely correct.
Just as he said before Sunday’s final round began, a four shot lead was not safe at this British Open. Not even with just four holes to play, and not even with Scott looking for a first major championship after a birdie at No. 14.
Scott, a 32-year-old Australian, made bogeys on the final four holes at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club to shoot 5-over-par 75. And when Scott’s last par putt of about 10 feet rolled just to the left of the cup on the 18th green, this year’s Open champion was Ernie Els.
“I feel for Adam Scott. He’s a great friend of mine,” Els said. “Obviously we both wanted to win very badly. I really feel for him, but you know that’s the nature of the beast.”
Els, whose closing 68 and 7-under-par total of 273 was one stroke better than Scott, knows plenty about major tournament pressure. It was The Big Easy’s fourth major championship, but his first since 2002, when he won the British Open at Muirfield.
“A lot of people - a lot, a lot of people - never thought I would win, and I started believing this year,” Els said. “I had a lot of help from a great team, all the way from my family to the professional people around me.”
This victory came for Els at age 42, which was the same age Darren Clarke was when he won the Open at Royal St. George’s last year. But Clarke’s victory, while unexpected, was not nearly as surprising as Els’ out-of-the-blue triumph Sunday. Els was six shots off the lead when the final round began, and he was still six shots back when he completed the front nine in 2-over 36.
But Els managed to keep his focus. He birdied Nos. 10, 12 and 14, and most important, the 18th, when Scott already was beginning to lose his secure grip on his long putter.
“I had it in my hands with four to go and, you know, managed to hit a poor shot on each of the four closing holes, which costs you on a course like this,” Scott said. “I’m very disappointed.”
There was plenty of disappointment to go around Sunday.
Tiger Woods, five shots off the lead when the day began, made a triple-bogey 7 on No. 6, his first triple bogey in a major championship since the 2003 British Open. He never quite recovered and finished in a tie for third place with a fellow American, Brandt Snedeker, at 3-under 277.
“It’s part of golf,” said Woods, who moves to No. 2 in the world rankings. “We all go through these phases. Some people, it lasts entire careers. Others are a little bit shorter. Even the greatest players to ever play have all gone through little stretches like this.”
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, who played in the final pairing with Scott, pulled to within three shots of the lead after eight holes but faded badly and ended up with a final-round 75 and a tie for fifth at 2 under with Luke Donald, the Englishman who is ranked No. 1 in the world.
Scott’s string of bogeys started at No. 15.
“I was on the 17th green; I left my putt just short, and I looked over at Scotty, he was on the 16 tee,” Els said. “I didn’t even know he’d bogeyed 15, and as we all know, 16 is not the hardest hole.”
Scott managed to three putt there to make another bogey, when his short par attempt curled around the rim of the cup and stayed above ground. Before long, Els was making a 15-foot putt for birdie on 18 to go to 7 under, and Scott was misjudging his 6-iron approach on 17, knocking it into thick rough to the front left of the green.
Els headed to the practice green, where it rarely works out for him. Els was on the putting green at Augusta National in 2004 when Phil Mickelson made an 18-foot birdie putt to win the Masters.
“I just thought, ‘I’ll probably be disappointed again,’ ” Els said. “You’re not really hoping the guy is going to make a mistake, but you’re hoping you don’t have to go to a playoff, you can win outright. This one was different,because I feel for Adam.”
Scott made his third consecutive bogey after failing to get up and down on No. 17, and then chose to hit a 3-wood off the 18th tee - and hit that into a fairway bunker. Though Scott hit a fine approach shot to within 10 feet, he just missed the par putt that would have secured him a playoff with Els.
As the putt slid past, Scott slowly sank into a crouch, his head twisting away from the hole.
“Well, look, it may not have sunk in yet, so I don’t know,” Scott said. “Hopefully, I can let it go really quick and get on what I plan to do next week and get ready for my next tournament.”
Information for this article was compiled from New York Times News Service and The Associated Press.
Leaderboard Par 70, 7,086 yards;
Purse: $7.75 million Final round Ernie Els ...................67-70-68-68-273 Adam Scott ..............64-67-68-75-274 Brandt Snedeker ......66-64-73-74-277 Tiger Woods .............67-67-70-73-277 Luke Donald .............70-68-71-69-278 Graeme McDowell ...67-69-67-75-278 Thomas Aiken ..........68-68-71-72-279 Nicolas Colsaerts .....65-77-72-65-279 ARKANSAN John Daly .................72-71-77-74-294 Complete results, 6C
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/23/2012