Ernie, But Not Easy: Els Takes 2012 British Open After Adam Scott’s Collapse

Adam Scott made some questionable decisions and he’s the one who mishit the shots that led to his final-round collapse at the British Open. But his four-bogey finish at Royal Lytham had many in the golf world wondering what advice, if any, the Aussie’s notorious caddie Steve Williams offered as his employer’s golden opportunity to grab his first major went as sideways as so many shots from pot bunkers did 10 days ago in England.

Scott suggested on Wednesday that the two needed a cooling-off period after the disastrous climax to a championship that the 32-year-old Aussie seemed to have in the bag until the four closing holes.

Don’t look now, but a very familiar face is slowly moving up the Official World Golf Rankings list once again.

With his third-place finish in the 2012 British Open, Tiger Woods is now ranked second on the prestigious (and oft-controversial) world rankings list. Luke Donald remains top-dog at this time after a solid showing of his own (tied for fifth) at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Nobody knew Ernie Els was going to win his second British Open until Adam Scott missed his second-to-last putt, sealing his fourth straight bogey and handing the Claret Jug over to the Big Easy. The Big Easy’s win was just the end of the story. Here’s the full one, in .GIF and video form:

Rory McIlroy didn’t have a great tournament, and must have felt even worse than his scorecard after beaning this fan in the gallery with his ball.

One of the few things better than Ernie Els’s great comeback at the 2012 British Open in Sunday’s final round was the meaty chunk of his speech shortly after winning. During said speech, he went from making the crowd chuckle at Canada’s expense to giving praise to Nelson Mandela for uniting his native South Africa as quick as a wink.

Els on Canada, sort of:

Adam Scott is going to be thinking about how close he was to winning the 2012 British Open for some time to come — at least, he’ll be thinking about that until he does, in fact, win a major. Seeing that his name was literally on a medal will probably not help him stop thinking about it.

Scott’s four bogeys over his final four holes paved the way for Ernie Els to take his second career British Open, but the narrative of the 2012 Open Championship may well be Scott’s staggering collapse.

Adam Scott bogeyed his final four holes Sunday to give Ernie Els the win at the 2012 British Open. Scott’s collapse was a costly one. He will take home €656,864, or roughly $600,000 less than Els earned (€1,136,880) for winning the tournament.

The purse at the tournament was the same as 2011, with $7,745,085 being divvied up among the competitors. Over $1.4 million went to Els as he won the second Open Championship of his career.

Adam Scott had a four-shot lead entering the final day of the 2012 British Open, and a four-shot lead over Ernie Els with four holes to play. And yet, after a monumental collapse, Els claimed the Claret Jug, leaving Scott to deal with the aftermath of another failed attempt to win his first major.

Scott, known for his gorgeous swing and titanic putter, moved to 10-under with his second birdie of the day and 17th of the Open Championship on the par-3 14th hole. But then his accuracy, so good all tournament, deserted him, and he started spraying shots.

Adam Scott entered the final round of the British Open on Sunday with a score of 11-under, looking as if he was going to cruise to victory without much of a challenge. Scott’s clubs had other plans, however, as Scott found ways to falter down the stretch and did the work of shortening the gap for the other golfers in the field.

Scott opened the day with a bogey, then picked up two more bogeys through the first six holes of the course. With Ernie Els on his heels, Scott picked up a birdie on No. 14, looking like he’d recover and pull away again, but wound up picking up bogeys on the next two holes as Els tied for the lead at 7-under. On hole No. 17, Scott was able to land a tough shot to keep himself in the hunt but couldn’t hold on and finished up with his third bogey in a row.

Adam Scott entered the final day of the 2012 British Open with a four-stroke lead over Graeme McDowell. Like much of the field, he has fallen back on a windy day, however, and is now at 4-over through 17 holes, and 7-under overall. Ernie Els finished his day of regulation golf 2-under, and currently sits in the clubhouse tied with Scott atop the leaderboard.

Scott has shot bogey on his last three consecutive holes to set up a potential playoff assuming he can save par on No. 18 at Royal Lytham. That’s hardly a given considering his current frazzled state.

Things are starting to (finally) get interesting in the final round of the 2012 British Open. Leader Adam Scott, who began the day with a four-shot lead over Graeme McDowell at 11-under, has now fallen to 8-under par for the tournament after recording consecutive bogies on holes No. 15 and 16 at Royal Lytham.

Ernie Els has answered the call in response to Scott’s troubles, making birdie at his final hole to reach 7-under par, and is now only one shot back of the lead. Scott is currently playing no. 17 and will likely face more pressure than he ever has in his major tournament career.

A smooth swinger who has had trouble with his putter throughout his career is in great position at the 2012 British Open. Actually, there are two of them: Ernie Els turned in a great final round capped by a beautiful birdie on his 18th hole, and has cut Adam Scott’s lead to one stroke.

Els found the green in regulation on No. 18 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, then buried a 15-foot birdie putt to finish a final round 68, the best round of the day by anyone who started remotely near Scott’s lead. Els now sits at 7-under for the Open Championship as the clubhouse leader — and will be in another British Open playoff if scores hold.

The Big Easy is making noise in the final round of the 2012 British Open.

Entering the day six strokes off the lead, Ernie Els is currently in second place at 6-under par, now just three strokes behind Adam Scott.

Innovations like the shot tracker that ESPN uses for golf are supposed to make following, understanding, and enjoying sports simpler. Putting Graeme McDowell’s wayward hook on a shot tracker made following it easier, and McDowell will surely understand why, but he’s not going to enjoy seeing it. At all.

This was McDowell’s second shot from the fairway on the par-5 11th hole. It went left, and then left, and then left some more; it was like the Noam Chomsky of golf shots.

Play has been difficult at the 2012 British Open today, as you could tell by noted golf enthusiast Brandt Snedeker’s reaction to his missed par putt on hole No. 11:

Snedeker is currently playing hole No. 12 and is now at 3-under for the tournament, six shots behind leader Adam Scott.

As the leaders of the 2012 British Open make their turn towards the back nine, there’s probably not a single player that’s terribly happy with their play.

Of the current top ten players on the leaderboard, only Luke Donald, who is tied for seventh with two other golfers, is under par on his round today.

Tournament play has reached the final nine holes of the 2012 British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, and Adam Scott still maintains his lead over the pack.

Scott, who began the day at 11-under par, has dropped a few shots in his opening nine holes and is now at 9-under for the tournament. Playing partner Graeme McDowell has also struggled slightly today, dropping two shots on his opening nine leaving him at 5-under and four shots back of the lead.

Something odd happened to the golf ball of British Open leader Adam Scott as he prepared to chip the ball onto the seventh-hole green.

Scott, who after taking a few practice swings and assessing the undulations in front of him, returned back to his ball, ready to address and hit... then a ghost or something came through.

Tiger Woods’ chances at winning the 2012 British Open plummeted with his triple bogey on the sixth hole. But if he can harness more of the old magic, like he did on his chip-in birdie on the seventh, he might yet make a run.

Woods laid up on the par 5 seventh, then flew his approach shot over the green to a fringe area. He made up for it with a brilliant chip that stayed low and dribbled in, both getting a stroke back after misplaying the hole prior lost him three and preventing himself from having to putt, which has been somewhat problematic this week.

Tiger Woods was in contention in a major and wearing his traditional Sunday red. But through five holes, his round had been profoundly boring.

Then he found a bunker on the sixth hole.

Adam Scott has made his first mistake of the day at the 2012 British Open, and it came on his very first hole.

Leading the tournament by four shots going into today’s final round at 11-under, Scott narrowly missed a five-foot putt for par on the par-3 first hole, causing him to drop a shot and fall to 10-under. Playing partner Graeme McDowell made par and remains at 7-under, but is now only three shots back.

Playing with Brandt Snedeker in his final round of the 2012 British Open, Tiger Woods has begun the final charge to capture his 15th major by attempting to catch leader Adam Scott at 11-under par.

Woods begins his day in fourth place and a full five shots behind Scott at 6-under par for the tournament. Prior to teeing off, Woods was spotted on the driving range working on different shots with his driver, possibly alluding to a more aggressive game plan for his final round. He has routinely played irons off most teeboxes in his previous three rounds, prompting questions about his ability to catch Scott.

Tiger Woods may have to ditch his conservative British Open game plan if he hopes to do something he’s never done before and win a major by coming from behind after 54 holes.

Woods did not play himself out of the tourney on Saturday as he did in the third round at the U.S. Open in June. In fact, he gathered himself to finish his front nine at 1-under 33 after a shaky start. And shaky it certainly was, as Woods bogeyed the first and third holes.

The 2012 Open Championship in Lancashire is nearly at an end. On Sunday, the fourth and final round will get under way. Adam Scott is hoping to hold on to his lead in the tournament, while Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods are all in the hunt. The event will start very early for those of us who hope to watch live in the U.S.

While the round of play begins teeing off at around 2 a.m. ET, the television coverage will begin at 6 a.m. ET on ESPN. Early live coverage will be shown on ESPN until 1:30 p.m. ET.

If you go into the final day of a major championship with a four-shot advantage, then you’re liable to be the betting favorite. And if you were Adam Scott, who takes a four-shot lead into Sunday at the 2012 British Open, you would be the overwhelming betting favorite to take home your first major championship.

Scott’s 11-under performance through his first 54 holes has made him a -175 favorite to finish on top at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, which would give the Aussie his first major in his 11th year of playing all four in a season.

The 2012 British Open rolls into its final day of play on Sunday. Who will be crowned the champion at the end of the fourth round in Lancashire?

As the final round begins, the overall leader is Adam Scott, sitting alone at the top of the leaderboard with a cumulative score of 11-under. American player Brandt Snedeker and Graeme McDowell are tied for second place, both at 7-under, and Tiger Woods, never to be counted out, is alone in fourth place at 6-under.