Lytham St Annes, England – South African Ernie Els won the British Open by one stroke from Adam Scott on Sunday after the Australian suffered an extraordinary late collapse on an incident-packed final day.
World number 13 Scott, chasing his first win in one of the big four events, started the last round with a four-shot lead and seemed to be cruising to victory as he maintained that cushion with six holes to play.
But a late attack of the jitters saw him drop strokes at each of the last four holes to allow South African Els to slip in through the back door and lift the coveted Claret Jug with a two-under-par 68 giving him a seven-under total of 273.
It was Els's fourth major championship.
Scott's sad 75 meant he had to settle for second place on 274, three shots ahead of former world number one Tiger Woods (73) and his fellow American Brandt Snedeker (74). – Reuters