2002 British Open Winner and Scores
The 2002 British Open was the 131st edition of the tournament, and Ernie Els won his first Open and third overall major. But he needed a playoff to do it.
Winner: Ernie Els, 278
Where it was played: Muirfield Links, Gullane, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 18-21, 2002
Leader after first round: David Toms, Duffy Waldorf and Carl Petterssen, 67
Leader after second round: Duffy Waldorf, Shigeki Maruyama, Bob Tway, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington, 136
Leader after third round: Ernie Els, 208
What Happened at the 2002 Open Championship
There was a 3-way tie after the first round, and a 5-way tie after the second round. Ernie Els appeared to take control after the third round, opening a 2-stroke lead. But the tournament ended in a 4-way playoff after three golfers who played great final rounds — Thomas Levet and Steve Elkington with 66s, and Stuart Appleby with a 65 — caught Els, who had a 70.That quartet entered a playoff using a four-hole, aggregate score format. As they teed off on the fourth playoff hole, Levet was in front by one over Els. But he bogeyed that fourth extra hole to finish on 16, once again tied with Els. Appleby and Elkington each totaled 17 strokes in the playoff.
So Els and Levet continued the playoff in the sudden-death format. Levet couldn't recover from hitting into a bunker off the tee and bogeyed. Els, however, got up-and-down for par out of a greenside bunker to win the hole and the 2002 Open Championship.
It was Els' third overall win in a major championship after two earlier U.S. Open wins. He later added the 2012 British Open title, too.
The third round was played in terrible conditions, wet and cold, and Tiger Woods shot 81 — his worst score in a major to that point. Woods had won the first two majors of 2002, the Masters and U.S. Open, but fell out of contention after that tough third round.
2002 British Open Final Scores
| p-Ernie Els | 70-66-72-70—278 |
| Thomas Levet | 72-66-74-66—278 |
| Stuart Appleby | 73-70-70-65—278 |
| Steve Elkington | 71-73-68-66—278 |
| Gary Evans | 72-68-74-65—279 |
| Padraig Harrington | 69-67-76-67—279 |
| Shigeki Maruyama | 68-68-75-68—279 |
| Peter O'Malley | 72-68-75-65—280 |
| Scott Hoch | 74-69-71-66—280 |
| Retief Goosen | 71-68-74-67—280 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 68-70-73-69—280 |
| Sergio Garcia | 71-69-71-69—280 |
| Soren Hansen | 68-69-73-70—280 |
| Davis Love III | 71-72-71-67—281 |
| Nick Price | 68-70-75-68—281 |
| Peter Lonard | 72-72-68-69—281 |
| Justin Leonard | 71-72-68-70—281 |
| Bob Estes | 71-70-73-68—282 |
| Greg Norman | 71-72-71-68—282 |
| Duffy Waldorf | 67-69-77-69—282 |
| Scott McCarron | 71-68-72-71—282 |
| Chris Riley | 70-71-76-66—283 |
| Toshimitsu Izawa | 76-68-72-67—283 |
| Mark O'Meara | 69-69-77-68—283 |
| Corey Pavin | 69-70-75-69—283 |
| David Duval | 72-71-70-70—283 |
| Justin Rose | 68-75-68-72—283 |
| Tiger Woods | 70-68-81-65—284 |
| Pierre Fulke | 72-69-78-65—284 |
| Bradley Dredge | 70-72-74-68—284 |
| Bernhard Langer | 72-72-71-69—284 |
| Niclas Fasth | 70-73-71-70—284 |
| Jerry Kelly | 73-71-70-70—284 |
| Jesper Parnevik | 72-72-70-70—284 |
| Loren Roberts | 74-69-70-71—284 |
| Des Smyth | 68-69-74-73—284 |
| Neal Lancaster | 71-71-76-67—285 |
| Ian Woosnam | 72-72-73-68—285 |
| Darren Clarke | 72-67-77-69—285 |
| Stephen Leaney | 71-70-75-69—285 |
| Andrew Coltart | 71-69-74-71—285 |
| Scott Verplank | 72-68-74-71—285 |
| Esteban Toledo | 73-70-75-68—286 |
| Steve Jones | 68-75-73-70—286 |
| Trevor Immelman | 72-72-71-71—286 |
| Carl Pettersson | 67-70-76-73—286 |
| Paul Eales | 73-71-76-67—287 |
| Jeff Maggert | 71-68-80-68—287 |
| Rocco Mediate | 71-72-74-70—287 |
| Warren Bennett | 71-68-82-67—288 |
| Mikko Ilonen | 71-70-77-70—288 |
| Fredrik Andersson | 74-70-74-70—288 |
| Ian Poulter | 69-69-78-72—288 |
| Bob Tway | 70-66-78-74—288 |
| Shingo Katayama | 72-68-74-74—288 |
| Barry Lane | 74-68-72-74—288 |
| Ian Garbutt | 69-70-74-75—288 |
| Craig Perks | 72-70-71-75—288 |
| Stewart Cink | 71-69-80-69—289 |
| Steve Stricker | 69-70-81-69—289 |
| Richard Green | 72-72-75-70—289 |
| Paul Lawrie | 70-70-78-71—289 |
| Nick Faldo | 73-69-76-71—289 |
| Kenichi Kuboya | 70-73-73-73—289 |
| Joe Durant | 72-71-73-73—289 |
| Phil Mickelson | 68-76-76-70—290 |
| Jarrod Moseley | 70-73-75-72—290 |
| Chris DiMarco | 72-69-75-74—290 |
| Matthew Cort | 73-71-78-69—291 |
| Toru Taniguchi | 71-73-76-71—291 |
| Stephen Ames | 68-70-81-72—291 |
| Len Mattiace | 68-73-77-73—291 |
| Jim Carter | 74-70-73-74—291 |
| Mike Weir | 73-69-74-75—291 |
| Sandy Lyle | 68-76-73-75—292 |
| Chris Smith | 74-69-71-78—292 |
| Anders Hansen | 71-72-79-71—293 |
| Roger Wessels | 72-71-73-77—293 |
| David Park | 73-67-74-80—294 |
| Lee Janzen | 70-69-84-72—295 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 74-66-81-74—295 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 74-64-84-75—297 |
| David Toms | 67-75-81-75—298 |
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