[caption id="attachment_92" align="alignleft" width="212" caption="Photo Credit: AP "]
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The Claret Jug is in the same vein as the Stanley Cup because everyone’s name that has ever won this particular major is engraved on it.
For Ernie Els, however, this little victory should feel even more special, for this is the second time he’s won the British Open, as well as his fourth major.
How Els Did It
The Adam Scott collapse is well documented by now: Bogeys on the last four holes, bogeys on three-of-the-first-six, et cetera. But this whole thing in regards to Scott comes down to that one putt that he missed on Hole 18, and I still can’t believe he missed that putt. No matter how poorly Adam Scott played throughout his round on Sunday, the man still had a shot to win, implosion or not.
The Scott situation now appropriately covered, we can now move onto the man of the hour: South African Ernie Els.
Els was the only player over the course of four days not to play a single round above par; Els shot 67-70-68-68, which doesn’t look like it’d win a major, but I seemed to work for him.
Els also managed to save his Sunday round at just the right time. Coming out of the gate was a bit rough for him, for he was (+2) for his day when he made the turn, and he started six shots back, so it appeared impossible for him to contend in any fashion.
Yet upon making the trip unto the closing nine holes, Els caught fire, posting birdies on three-of-the-first-five holes on the back. Then, standing over a birdie putt to tie the descending downward in the rankings Adam Scott, he sank the putt.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You win golf tournaments on the green, and Ernie Els only further proved that point.
Tiger Watch
Witnessing Tiger this weekend was not pleasant.
Saturday he disappointed by not being up to anything other than the bare minimum of an even par 70, yet Sunday would prove even more frustrating.
In a bunker on Hole 6, it took Tiger Woods two shots to get out of it—those bloody British bunkers—and then Tiger three putted, resulting in a triple bogey. Making matters worse was the fact that Woods went through the rest of his round at even par, to the tune of four birdies negated by four bogeys. Infuriating…
Every time it looked like Tiger had turned the corner and gotten it all figured out, he’d flounder, normally because he bailed on irons off the tee, reached for the driver, and found himself in entirely too much trouble.
But with a birdie putt on the closing hole falling into the cup, we all should have felt a little cheated, for the whole weekend with Tiger had been just a tease.
FedEx Cup Standings
The top six players order hasn’t changed, but the differences between them have. Tiger’s lead over Zach Johnson has grown, but Johnson plays more often than Woods, so that’ll fluctuate; Jason Dufner put more distance between himself and Hunter Mahan, and in more bad news for Mahan’s current falling in the rankings, Bubba Watson’s gaining on him quickly, so that’ll be fun to keep your eyes on as well.
Ernie Els jumped from 33rd to 7th with the 600 points he received for his little victory, and Phil Mickelson feel out of the top ten with another horrid showing at a major. Oh well…
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