Ernie Els claimed his second Claret Jug in dramatic fashion at Royal Lytham and St Annes as Adam Scott suffered an excruciating collapse in the final four holes of the 141st Open Championship.
The 42-year-old South African, ten years on from his first Open title at Muirfield in 2002, shot a two-under 68 for a seven-under aggregate of 273 on a final day when the Open’s unmatched propensity for drama was underlined yet again.
Scott, the 32-year-old Australian and protg of twice Open winner Greg Norman, seemed to be set to have his name etched on the golf’s most coveted trophy at four strokes ahead with four holes to play.
Instead, Scott bogeyed all four holes and with Els’ dramatic birdie at the last to the ecstatic acclaim of the 18th hole stands, the popular South African’s fourth major title he won the US Open in 1994 and 1997 fell into his lap.
Typically, Els’ first thoughts were for the vanquished Australian, knowing exactly how he was feeling.
”Obviously I’m so happy that I’ve won, but I’ve been on the other end more times than I’ve actually been on the winning end, and it’s not a good feeling,” he said.
”I think Adam is a little bit different than I am. I told him that I’ve been there many times and you’ve just got to bounce back quickly, don’t let this thing linger like I did.
”I feel for him. But thankfully he’s young enough, he’s got the next 10 years. I’ve won four now; I think he can win more than that.”
Ernie said he had ”a good feeling about the week” on a course where he felt comfortable, having finished runner-up in 1997 and third in 2001.
Fully six shots adrift of a cruising Scott with nine to play, Els still felt the chance was there.See Monday’s Courier for more of Steve Scott’s Open coverage”Even if I hadn’t won I would have left happy, knowing I was able to compete again,” said Els. ”I bogeyed nine, was really angry with myself, and that put me in a different mindset, it really got me aggressive.
”When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve seen a lot of things happen. And I just felt that the golf course is such if you just doubt it a little bit, it was going to bite you.
”There’s too many bunkers, too much trouble, and there was a bit of a breeze. I was in the moment and still felt I had a chance.”
That attitude seemed fanciful at the turn, as a strong wind changed the nature of the championship at last and it became a proper links examination again. But perhaps we should have known that the man who has shot more rounds under 70 in the championship than anyone else in its 150-year history would come through.
Early on, Scott’s rivals seemed to be obligingly making things easy for him. Although he had dropped two early shots, calamities were befalling everyone else, from Tiger Woods’ adventures to a triple bogey at the sixth, to Graeme McDowell’s shank at the long 11th, to Brandt Snedeker’s successive double bogeys at the seventh and eighth.
Scott dropped shots too, but his ship was reasonably steady and the gap was four ahead of McDowell at the turn, five clear of Woods and Els at the 12th.
When the Australian drained a 15-footer for birdie at the 14th, it seemed Ernie’s outstanding back nine performance, with birdies at 10, 12 and 14, would count for nothing, as the gap was still four.
The Aussie looked cool and collected, and although he bogeyed the 15th from a greenside bunker, there was still no cause for alarm.
However ,when he horseshoed out a short putt for a second bogey at 16, alarms bells started to ring, at least until they were drowned out the roar for Els’ 15-foot putt for birdie at the 18th.
The cheers of ”Ernie-Ernie-Ernie” went across the links but Scott hit a super drive at 17, only to pull his approach into rough at the back of the green. A clumsy chip and miss had the pair tied.
Els by now was on the waiting in a familiar position for him down the years.
”I went to the putting green like I’ve done so many times, and I just thought I’ll probably be disappointed again because so many times waiting on a play-off,” he 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 play-off. You want to win it outright. This one was different. I really didn’t mind going to a play-off but it was the best I was hoping for.”
Instead Scott was too aggressive with his drive and found a bunker, hacked out and then hit a fine approach to eight feet, but the putt didn’t ever really look like making it.
For Els, it was the culmination of a decade in which he felt he might never come back to win a major.
”I think I’ve been in such a negative mode for a while, and now that I’m starting to feel more positive, things happen,” he said.Scott ‘going in right direction’The parallels between Scott’s collapse at Royal Lytham and the crushing disappointments endured by his hero Greg Norman are obvious to all, but the classy Australian did not try to hide behind excuses or platitudes.
”Greg was my hero when I was a kid, and I always thought he was a great role model,” said Scott. ”How he handled himself in victory and defeat, he set a good example for all of us.
”I know I’ve let a really great chance slip through my fingers but somehow I’ll look back and take positives from this. I’ve never played this well in a major championship, so that’s something for me moving forward.
”All this stuff I’m doing is going in the right direction. But I don’t know how I will feel when I wake tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to let it go really quick and get on with what I want to do next.”
Scott said he didn’t feel nerves throughout most of his final round, not even in the final four holes, but he accepted that it wouldn’t look that way to other observers.
”I can’t justify anything that I did out there,” he continued. ”I didn’t finish the tournament today. I’d left a lot of putts short but was playing accordingly, I knew where I was around the turn. I hit some good shots and was looking to make good pars.
”For me it all comes down to the second shot to 17, that’s the one I most disappointed with. At that point I’m still in charge of the championship and if I hit a nice shot somewhere to the right of the hole I can go to the last with the lead. But I turned that one over a little.”
The last hole, he hit a driver into a fairway bunker and had to splash out, but then put his third shot to eight feet with a chance to salvage a playoff.
”That putt didn’t go on the line I was intending. I didn’t feel I hit a bad putt but it never got on line.”
The victor, a close friend, had consoling words for Scott in the aftermath.
”He said he’d beat himself up a little bit when he had lost, and he said I was a great player who would go on to win majors,” said the Aussie. ”We’ve had some battles in the past and I respect Ernie a lot. He’s a worthy champion here, that’s for sure.”
Photo by John Walton/PA Archive