Majors tournaments this year have provided no shortage of excitement, and for the British Open it ended up being a late storm combined with a late meltdown that provided the fireworks. Adam Scott had escaped the first few rounds with a sizable lead going into the final four holes of the tournament.
Scott's first major seemed within reach until he bogeyed not once, but three times. Meanwhile, longshot Ernie Els of South Africa was slowly chipping his way into the top five, and then the top two. He didn't need to do much to eventually win the Claret Jug, as Scott finally finished the meltdown by missing a seven-foot putt that would have forced the playoff. Scott's -6 was just below Els' -7 in the end.
It was Els' first Major win since 2002 and his second victory at The Open.
A big disappointment came for Tiger Woods, who once again failed to win a major after being heavily favored at the beginning. It seems to be a recursive loop for Tiger in that regard, with strong starts in majors ending up without the top prizes in the end. In this case, it was a late triple-bogey that knocked him out -- he ended up tied for third place with a -3 score.
Most of the favorites seemed to be out early or falter at the very end in the 2012 Open, with Phil Mickelson missing the first cut by miles and Bubba Watson stuck down in a tie for 23rd place in the end.
Only one Minnesotan was involved in the tournament, Tom Lehman. He fell early, with bad results on the first and second holes keeping him from making the cut into the later stages.
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