All Ends Well for Els

Ernie Els took the emotional journey of his life Sunday afternoon at Muirfield, from elation to despair and, finally, to something euphoric even he couldn’t describe.

Els had the silver Claret Jug from the 131st British Open firmly in his hands with six holes to play, watched helplessly as his game deserted him, then patched himself together and outlasted three other players in a four-hole playoff and one hole of sudden death to win what he called “the most rewarding” championship of his life.

“I’m still a little bit in shock,” Els said. “In a couple of hours, I will be out of my skin, probably. It’s just been an unbelievable four days.”

A birdie on No. 12 put Els, known as the Big Easy, at eight-under for the tournament and gave him a three-shot advantage. But after a mental error two holes later and a shoulder-slumping double bogey at the par-three 16th dropped him out of the lead, Els did all he could to finish in a tie with Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and Thomas Levet of France by the 18th hole.

Those four completed the final round at six-under-par 278, under blue sky and perfect playing conditions, weather as dramatically different from Saturday’s blistering rain and wind as Els’ mood swings were Sunday.

Els, who has won the U.S. Open twice, set a scoring record at Riviera in the 1995 PGA Championship after three rounds but shot a 72 on the final day and missed getting in a playoff, which was won by Elkington. The 32-year-old Els has been second in the Masters and U.S. Open once each and second twice in the British Open.

Els said he thought he had secured his third major championship after a spectacular sand save at the 13th hole preserved a two-shot lead.

But on the par-four 14th, he used a two-iron instead of a safer three-iron and bogeyed after hitting into the rough. And after he lost the lead at 16, he was a vision of self-doubt, certain he had thrown away the tournament, questioning whether he ever might win it.

“Walking off 16, a lot of things went through my mind,” he said. “I was like, is this a way to lose another major; is this the way you want to be remembered, by screwing up in an Open Championship? That wasn’t one of my finer moments....

“People have lost here before, and some people never recover.”

Els stepped up to the 17th tee feeling like a beaten man. It’s a 546-yard par five that had given up 42 birdies Sunday, the second-easiest hole on the course.

“All of a sudden, 17 is the most crucial hole of the tournament.... I was under a lot of pressure there,” he said. “I never felt anything like it.”

But Els hit a good drive, birdied the hole to tie for the lead and needed a birdie on 18, where there had been only four birdies all day, to win the championship outright. His birdie putt was short, forcing a playoff he had little confidence he could win.

“I was down in the dumps, really,” he said.

While Els was struggling on the final holes, Elkington, Levet and Appleby were working their way into contention.

Elkington, who had to qualify for the Open and barely made the cut, shot a 66; Levet eagled the 17th for a 66 and Appleby shot a five-under 30 on the final nine to finish with a 65. Els came in at 70.

The British Open uses a four-hole cumulative-score playoff to determine its winner in case of a tie, and in the brief period before the playoff, Els tried to get mentally ready to play the four holes: 1, 16, 17 and 18.

He was paired with Appleby, following the Elkington-Levet twosome as the playoff began.

On the first extra hole, the 448-yard par-four first, Elkington fell one behind the others with a bogey.

Levet got the first birdie of the playoff with a 50-foot putt on the second hole, the 186-yard par-three 16th. Elkington and Els two-putted for par, but Appleby, who missed the green to the left, not far from where Els had made double bogey to set the stage for the playoff, couldn’t get up and down for par and went to one over.

On the 17th, Elkington birdied from 35 feet to get back to even, and Appleby followed with an eight-foot birdie putt to square his total. Els and Levet settled for pars.

That meant Levet, a 33-year-old PGA European Tour player who finished 18th in the U.S. Open in June, came to the 18th at one-under, the other three at even par. A par could give him the championship.

But on the 449-yard par four, he drove into the rough and bogeyed to fall back to even par. Appleby and Elkington also bogeyed, leaving Levet and Els to settle the championship in sudden death.

They returned to the 18th tee. Els split the fairway with a safe two-iron; Levet drove into a fairway bunker and had to blast out to the fairway.

Els, given an opening, then hit his second shot, a five-iron, into a greenside bunker, giving Levet new life.

But then Els did just what he had on 13, hitting an improbable bunker shot to five feet from the pin. After Levet bogeyed, all Els needed to do was make that putt.

He did.

It was the fifth time the four-hole playoff has been used since Mark Calcavecchia defeated Wayne Grady and Greg Norman in 1989 at Royal Troon. Sunday’s playoff was the first involving four players in a major championship.

Tiger Woods made a belated charge Sunday with a six-under-par 65, one of 36 scores in the 60s. But even with that round, his only chance of overtaking the leaders was to bring on a storm even more vicious than the one that had turned the leaders into 10-handicappers Saturday.

Woods finished at even-par 284, six shots behind the leaders.

The tournament that began as Woods’ historic opportunity to win the third leg of the Grand Slam became a trial of Els’ character.

“I’ve had a dream of winning this jug for a long, long time,” Els said. “To almost be a clear winner and almost be a clear loser in the space of three or four holes, I had patience, and I guess I had staying power this time.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*--* Four-Hole Playoff HOLE 1 16 17 18 PAR 4 3 5 4 +/- Els 4 3 5 4 Even Levet 4 2 5 5 Even Appleby 4 4 4 5 +1 Elkington 5 3 4 5 +1

*--*

*--* Sudden Death 18th Levet: Drives into left fairway bunker; blasts out into fairway; hits to left front of green; two putts from about 40 feet Els: Using two-iron, tees off into fairway; hits second shot into bunker left of green; blasts out to five feet from cup; sinks par for victory

*--*