2012 British Open Tournament: Els the Winner
The 2012 British Open was the tournament's 141st edition, and Ernie Els won it for his fourth major victory.
Winner: Ernie Els, 273
Where it was played: Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lytham St. Annes, England
Tournament dates: July 19-22, 2012
Leader after first round: Adam Scott, 64
Leader after second round: Brandt Snedeker, 130
Leader after third round: Adam Scott, 199
Notable Notes: Ernie Els was the winner of this Open, and Adam Scott was the loser. Scott started the final round six strokes ahead of Els, but Els shot 68 to Scott's 75. Scott bogied the last four holes of the tournament, missing a par putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
It was the second win in the British Open for Els, and his fourth overall major title.
Final Scores
| Ernie Els | 67-70-68-68—273 |
| Adam Scott | 64-67-68-75—274 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 66-64-73-74—277 |
| Tiger Woods | 67-67-70-73—277 |
| Luke Donald | 70-68-71-69—278 |
| Graeme McDowell | 67-69-67-75—278 |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 65-77-72-65—279 |
| Thomas Aiken | 68-68-71-72—279 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 71-68-69-72—280 |
| Dustin Johnson | 73-68-68-71—280 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 71-69-73-67—280 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 72-68-73-67—280 |
| Ian Poulter | 71-69-73-67—280 |
| Alexander Noren | 71-71-69-69—280 |
| Vijay Singh | 70-72-68-70—280 |
| Matt Kuchar | 69-67-72-72—280 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 69-66-71-74—280 |
| Zach Johnson | 65-74-66-75—280 |
| Steven Alker | 69-69-72-71—281 |
| Hunter Mahan | 70-71-70-70—281 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 72-68-68-73—281 |
| Bill Haas | 71-68-68-74—281 |
| Matthew Baldwin | 69-73-69-71—282 |
| James Morrison | 68-70-72-72—282 |
| Steve Stricker | 67-71-73-71—282 |
| Peter Hanson | 67-72-72-71—282 |
| Carl Pettersson | 71-68-73-70—282 |
| Nick Watney | 71-70-69-72—282 |
| Simon Dyson | 72-67-73-70—282 |
| Bubba Watson | 67-73-68-74—282 |
| Rickie Fowler | 71-72-70-70—283 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 68-72-70-73—283 |
| Jason Dufner | 70-66-73-74—283 |
| Gary Woodland | 73-70-70-71—284 |
| John Senden | 70-71-75-68—284 |
| Jim Furyk | 72-70-71-71—284 |
| Paul Lawrie | 65-71-76-72—284 |
| Keegan Bradley | 71-72-68-73—284 |
| Richard Sterne | 69-73-73-70—285 |
| K.J. Choi | 70-73-71-71—285 |
| Troy Matteson | 70-72-71-72—285 |
| Francesco Molinari | 69-72-71-73—285 |
| Padraig Harrington | 70-72-70-73—285 |
| Kyle Stanley | 70-69-70-76—285 |
| Joost Luiten | 73-70-69-74—286 |
| Bob Estes | 69-72-74-71—286 |
| Ross Fisher | 72-71-74-69—286 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | 73-70-71-72—286 |
| Lee Westwood | 73-70-71-72—286 |
| Rafa Echenique | 73-69-71-73—286 |
| Justin Hicks | 68-74-69-75—286 |
| Greg Chalmers | 71-68-71-76—286 |
| Simon Khan | 70-69-71-76—286 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 69-73-73-72—287 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 71-71-72-73—287 |
| Yoshinori Fujimoto | 71-70-73-73—287 |
| Greg Owen | 71-71-71-74—287 |
| Harris English | 71-71-70-75—287 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 70-69-72-76—287 |
| Rory McIlroy | 67-75-73-73—288 |
| Ted Potter Jr. | 69-71-74-74—288 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 68-72-72-76—288 |
| Dale Whitnell | 71-69-72-76—288 |
| Retief Goosen | 70-70-75-74—289 |
| Charles Howell III | 72-71-74-72—289 |
| Lee Slattery | 69-72-75-73—289 |
| Sang-Moon Bae | 72-71-71-75—289 |
| Garth Mulroy | 71-69-72-77—289 |
| Adilson Da Silva | 69-74-71-76—290 |
| Jeev Milkha Singh | 70-71-76-73—290 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 71-71-74-74—290 |
| Juvic Pagunsan | 71-72-73-75—291 |
| Brendan Jones | 69-74-72-76—291 |
| Martin Laird | 70-69-82-70—291 |
| Chad Campbell | 73-70-74-74—291 |
| Toshinori Muto | 67-72-74-78—291 |
| Warren Bennett | 71-70-75-76—292 |
| Tom Watson | 71-72-76-73—292 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 69-71-74-78—292 |
| Branden Grace | 73-69-71-79—292 |
| Rafael Cabrera-Bello | 70-71-76-77—294 |
| John Daly | 72-71-77-74—294 |
| Andres Romero | 70-69-77-82—298 |