2012 British Open Tournament Winner, Scores
The 2012 British Open was the tournament's 141st edition, and Ernie Els won it after Adam Scott stumbled down the stretch.
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
What Happened in the 2012 Open Championship
Ernie Els won the 2012 British Open with a final-round 68 and a little — actually, a lot — of help from Adam Scott.Scott was the front-runner, and he was running solidly in front through most of the final round. His lead in Round 4 was five or four strokes much of the day. But beginning on the 15th hole, Scott stumbled home with four consecutive bogeys.
Els, meanwhile, was the only golfer pursuing Scott who managed to make a charge. He began the final round six strokes behind Scott. But a quick series of shots late in the round demonstrated the change in momentum from Scott to Els.
After three-putting the 15th hole for bogey, Scott faced a short par putt on the 16th. He missed it. In quick succession, Els, playing a couple groups ahead, rolled in a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to get in the clubhouse at 7-under par 273, at that point one stroke behind Scott. But then Scott overshot the 17th green into heavy rough, and bogeyed again, falling into a tie with Els.
Off the 18th tee, Scott hit into a deep fairway bunker, and could only play out sideways. He hit a great approach into the green, but his par putt to force a playoff slid just by the cup. Scott fell to 6-under 274, making Els the champion.
Scott opened the tournament with a first-round 64, and was steady throughout, at least until those final four holes. At the start of the final round, Scott led the second-place trio of Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker and Tiger Woods by four strokes. But McDowell shot 75 and Snedeker 74. Woods had a 73, but his chances were pretty much over when he triple-bogeyed the sixth hole after needing two tries to get out of a greenside bunker.
Els' 6-shot final-round comeback was the second-largest final-round comeback in Open Championship history to this point. Only Paul Lawrie's 10-round comeback at the 1999 British Open topped it.
Scott was trying to win his first major championship; Els was already a major champion, and this Open was his fourth career victory in a major. It was his second British Open title to go along with two U.S. Open wins, but his first win in a major since the 2002 British Open. It was also Els' 19th PGA Tour win and 27th European Tour victory. Scott eventually did win a major at the 2013 Masters.
2012 British Open 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 |
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