Whew, that was a close one for Ernie Els as he won his first British Open. He had a narrow one-to-two stroke lead for most of the final round. But, in the last holes, he lost some ground to force a playoff with Australians Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington and Thomas Levet of France.
In the end, Els held strong and avoided mistakes. Ernie Els is the new Open champion.
With one foot in the bunker and the other on the bank Els played a magnificent recovery from the downslope at the back of the bunker, running the ball within five feet of the hole.
Across the left to right slope Levet struck the putt firmly, shaving the hole as it ran seven feet past. He holed for a five leaving Els a single putt for the championship. He holed it.
If you missed any of the Open Championship, ABC is airing final-round highlights at 5:00/4:00c.