The 131st Open Golf Championship was won by Ernie Els after an enthralling final day at Muirfield. The South African beat Thomas Levet of France at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off after Australians Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington had been eliminated after an initial four hole play-off.
Els added the Open Championship crown to his glittering array of achievements at the end of one of the most fluctuating Championships in which the extreme weather conditions contributed to the sense of drama and excitement.
The two European Tour Members were left to settle the outcome of the title after shooting level par during the first four man play-off in Major Championship history. Appleby and Elkington both carded one over par totals in their quartet of holes and moved aside to allow Els and Levet to take centre stage.
This time Els, who had the title virtually in his possession heading into the homeward stretch, only to be prised away by some rare errors, finally cradled the Claret Jug with both hands after playing an exquisite bunker shot to four feet at the first extra hole was enough to secure the title after Levet had bogeyed the hole following an errant tee shot which found sand.
Levet, winner of the Victor Chandler British Masters last year – coincidentally after a four man play-off – contributed enormously to the occasion after a closing 66, highlighted by a massive eagle putt on the 17th, earned him a place in the play-off on 278, six under par.
After the inclement weather of Saturday, Sunday at Muirfield provided the shirt-sleeved galleries with a day to remember. Elkington, winner of the 1995 US PGA Championship, matched Levet’s five under par 66 with five birdies and no dropped shots. Next it was the turn of Appleby to stake a claim for his first Major Championship with three birdies at the last four holes in a round of 65.
Despite those heroics, it still appeared that Els, an Honorary Member of the European Tour and a two-time US Open Champion, was on course to collect the title he values above all others.
Birdies at the tenth and 12th had propelled him into a two stroke lead at eight under par and, despite the best efforts of his playing partner, Sören Hansen of Denmark, and the rest of the field, it seemed that only Els himself could prevent him from capturing the coveted title.
Indeed, that was almost the case as the South African displayed an uncharacteristic waywardness over the final stretch, bogeying the 14th and taking a double bogey at the par three 16th. It required a two putt birdie four at the 17th and a cast iron par four at the last to complete the play-off line-up.
If the huge crowds who thronged the immaculate Muirfield links thought they had seen it all, they were sadly mistaken. The drama was still to come. The four main protagonists made their way to the first tee, leaving three players wondering what might have been.
Padraig Harrington once again had a Major Championship in his sights at six under par with one hole to play but he elected to take a driver at the last but found a fairway bunker and took five. His 67 left him one short of the play-off on 279, a score he shared with England’s Gary Evans and Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama.
Maruyama fired a closing 68 while Evans was the man who set the 131st Open Championship alight, collecting eight birdies in a 65 which set the clubhouse target of 279 long before the leaders had reached the turn. Evans, without a victory on The European Tour, had the temerity to play one of the great holes of the Championship at the 17th when, after losing a ball, he holed from 70 feet for an improbable par five.
Into the play-off and Levet and Elkington, playing ahead of Appleby and Els, shot four and five respectively, the later having bunkered his approach. The second pairing made solid par fours.
Levet drew first blood at the par three 16th which had tripped up Els not long before, holing from across the green for a birdie two. Elkington made a par, matched by Els, while Appleby bogeyed.
Back on the long 17th, Levet could not emulate his eagle in regulation play by bunkering his second and making five. Elkington holed from 30 feet for a birdie and Appleby knocked in a ten footer for birdie with Els making a par five.
Appleby, Elkington and Levet all bogeyed the 18th while Els’s straightforward four was enough to eliminate the two Australians. After returning to the 18th tee, Levet took his driver and found sand while Els split the fairway with an iron.
But the South African pulled his approach into a tough downhill lie in the sand, leaving Levet to splash out and hit his third to the front of the green. With one foot out of the bunker, Els produced a wonderful stroke to four feet and after Levet missed, he finally eased in the putt which secured the title.
A relieved Els admitted: “I was shaking over that putt, and a couple more besides. Every time I tried to take command of the tournament I hit bad shots, after after the double bogey at the 16th I felt the tournament was slipping away from me.
“I have been after this title for ten years, since I finished fifth here at Muirfield in 1992. At times I thought I would never get my hands on it. This is one of the hardest tournaments I have had to play but the most rewarding. It is the greatest Championship and is truly Open in every sense of the word”.
In true Gallic fashion Levet, who enthralled the crowds last year by ‘high-fiving’ the galleries at Woburn after his play-off win, was able to say: ‘Je ne regret rien’. The 33 year old from Paris, now based close to Wentworth Club, said: “I don’t regret anything. I had a four to win the Open first time around but hit a bad drive and took five. Ernie is a great champion and I am happy for him. I would take second in the Open every year!”
When the excitement had died down, the simple statistics revealed that Tiger Woods could not win the Grand Slam this year. He shot a third round 81 in the vile weather but closed with a scintillating 65 for a share of 28th place on level par. Defending champion David Duval finished one shot better on 283 after a final round of 70.
