Ten years after his last win in a Major, Ernie Els takes back the Open Championship that had last crowned him in 2002. The South African rallied from five shots back in the final round to win, no doubt also thanks to Adam Scott's professional suicide. The Aussie, in the lead for much of the final round, double-bogeyed once and finished the round with back-to-back-to-back bogeys at 16, 17, and 18.
That's not to say that Els was handed the win: in the four days at Lytham, Els was the only player in the field to never round above par: 67-70-68-68 = -7. An impressive performance from a player who is seriously hard to dislike and who hasn't won as much as he should have (but don't tell Colin that).
Tiger's performance was pretty good, considering. I'm tired of using that qualifier and I want to go back to the days where he won Majors by 8-stroke margins, but I suppose that's a first-world problem if I ever heard of one. Here he displayed excellent control in the first two rounds, both closed in 67. He began to slip on Saturday, but was still tied for third. And then, just like Snedeker, he sank badly in the final round. But whereas Scott's decline was gradual, Woods' was marked by a nightmarish triple-bogey at 6 after two horrible putts, and despite the most amazing bunker exit I've ever seen. Bah. Eventually...
Overall, the Open was pretty interesting, with a generally high level of play and a few memorable shots. I just hope this awesome weather holds up for the Olympics!
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