Adam Scott brought Tiger Woods’ old swing and old caddie to the British Open on Sunday. And for the first 14 holes, he brought Woods’ old game, playing the front-runner role to the hilt.
This might have been an unsettling sight for Ernie Els, who trailed by as many as nine strokes on the front nine. During Woods’ era of dominance, no player was as vexed by the eye of the Tiger. In back-to-back majors in 2000, Els was runner-up to Woods — by 15 and eight strokes.
Recommended Stories
But this was not Woods in the lead. It was a talented impostor, so Els still had hope. Rolling in birdie putts on four of the last nine holes, Els played the brutal back nine of Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 4-under par to apply just enough pressure to make Scott blink.
With his bogey-bogey-bogey-bogey finish and crushing defeat, some will compare Scott’s Open implosion to that of Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie in 1999. But as much as Scott lost it Sunday, Els won it.
While the rest of the contenders, including Graeme McDowell (75), Brandt Snedeker (74), Zach Johnson (75) and Woods (73), were in retreat on a windy day, Els was climbing the leader board, making it a two-man race despite repeatedly coming up short on birdie opportunities.
When Els finally drained a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole with one of the most positive strokes he has made on the greens in years, he cut Scott’s lead to one. The Australian admitted later to hearing the roar and knowing its meaning “without looking at the scoreboard,” he said.
Posting early and watching the finish might have been the only way for Els, 42, to win a major. Recently he has become a sympathetic figure, increasingly haunted by a tentative putting stroke while remaining world class off the tee and from the fairways.
With its slow greens and 205 bunkers, Royal Lytham was built for the ball-striking excellence of Els, who hit 57 of 72 greens (79.2 percent), by far the best in the field.
Royal Lytham also was built to haunt a leader who didn’t have quite enough cushion or stomach for the moment.
– Kevin Dunleavy
