2002 The Story of the Open Championship...

GOLF THE STORY OF THE OPEN SPT G585D/01 BSD000000

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From its earliest beginnings,

golf and the elements have been intertwined.

It is a game at one with nature,

where the contours of the land and the strength of the wind

are factors in determining its difficulty.

For generations, the coastline

east of Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh,

has been a prized location for the grand old pursuit.

Many fine courses can be seen in the region synonymous with the game.

But the universally accept the jewel in the crown is Muirfield.

Home of the historic Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers

and, for the third week in July of 2002,

home of the 131st Open Championship.

Muirfield isn't a newcomer to the Open rota.

The links have hosted the Championship

on 14 previous occasions, starting in 1892,

and the list of champions produced underlines its quality and fairness

as an all-round shot making test.

Tom Watson won the third of his five Open titles here in 1980

and the American has returned to rekindle those fond memories.

Much the same as Nick Faldo, who triumphed at Muirfield in 1987

and again in 1992.

Once more in partnership these days with Fanny Sunesson,

his caddy back then,

Faldo's delighted to relive those moments of glory.

That's the worrying bit. Ten years has gone by.

Still one of my favourite spots.

Still enjoying the memories from a few years ago.

Momentous times indeed.

And 1992 was also the first Open as a professional for Ernie Els.

He finished fifth, one of six top ten results in an event he relishes.

I haven't won it, but I enjoy playing in the Open Championship

and I've had a pretty good time over the past ten years.

The sweet-swinging South African has two US Open victories on his CV

but his form immediately prior to the championship

was a cause for concern.

I've got to play a lot better.

I haven't played that good, the last couple of weeks.

It's a four-day event, so you've got to just try and hang tough,

but I'd like to see my game a little bit better by Thursday.

The man they all have to beat

is Eldrick Woods, better known as Tiger.

The world number one is looking for the third leg of a Grand Slam,

after prevailing at both the Masters and US Open.

First of all, I've got to play well and take care of business this week

and try and win the Championship. And that'll be an end result.

Woods appreciates there is much more to Muirfield than raw links,

and he likes what he sees.

It's a different style than the courses we play,

but it's one of the most fair golf courses we've played.

It presents itself right in front of you.

There is no hidden agendas, no tricks, anything like that.

It's just one of those golf courses, it's very fair and come-and-get-me.

In conjunction with the Royal & Ancient,

the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers

have been responsible for setting up a course

that has clearly received Tiger's seal of approval.

One obvious defence of the links is the rough.

The rough traditionally here is penal and quite high.

it has been higher

but I think it's been seen in this championship that,

if a player does get in the rough, he really is struggling to get out.

And he has to pay that penalty.

The other natural defence mechanism for Muirfield

is the wind, a regular visitor.

A further complicating issue is that the course is by no means

a traditional nine-out, nine-back configuration.

There are only probably two consecutive holes

where the wind will be in the same direction.

So, on every tee, the golfer has got different wind before he plays it.

And I'm just very hopeful that, before the championship is over,

we will see a strong East Lothian wind,

which will put them to the test.

The first day's play looks to be the best day of the championship.

Calm at first, but the wind's picking up from the East

as the sea breeze sets in the afternoon.

With wind speed, temperature and the likelihood of rain

very much on the minds of the competitors,

there's a member of the weatherman brotherhood on hand

to predict playing conditions.

I'm a forecast of the Met Office

and the Met Office is contracted by the R&A

to provide them with on-site, site-specific forecasting,

which gives you much more detail

than perhaps they could get from other sources.

Muirfield isn't the Arizona Desert or southern Spain.

Weather patterns are, to say the very least, unpredictable.

It can be very changeable

at any time of year, even during the summer, which we're in at the moment.

And despite the fact that we've had high pressure over the last

couple of days, it's not been easy to forecast.

So what can players, officials and spectators expect for the week?

On Thursday and Friday, probably not a great deal of wind, but then the

main wind will come during Saturday and Sunday,

as we begin to get strong north-easterlies developing,

so it is going to make for some tricky conditions.

But come rain or shine, nothing would deter the legions

of fans who rose early to witness Tiger's first shot of the week.

Woods appreciates the British galleries.

Fans over here that come out to the Open Championship are the most

knowledgeable fans. My relationship's been absolutely great.

They've been extremely nice to me and gracious.

That's what all of us who come out here

and play in the Open Championship truly admire

and respect about the fans, that they understand the game.

Unfortunately, when Woods teed off at 9.01,

a photographer was not so obliging.

Want to take them after I hit the shot, please?

With concentration restored, Tiger's challenge commenced,

although not with the desired outcome.

Finding the rough from the first tee was a surprise to all and tested

Tiger's powers of recovery much earlier than he would have wished.

'Good shot!'

And yet, Woods somehow managed to miraculously save par.

He would go on to shoot a round of 70.

Surprisingly, Woods was upstaged by both of his playing partners.

The popular Japanese star Shigeki Maruyama chipped

and smiled his way to a 68.

And that score was matched by Justin Rose,

whose game plan to focus on himself, rather than Tiger, worked well.

Rose, fourth in the Open at Royal Birkdale in 1998 as an amateur,

once again played superbly on home soil.

I didn't caught up in watching him or getting involved or

worrying about all the stuff that goes on around him.

I still felt very focused on my own game and I realised that the

Open Championship's an important tournament for me.

Rose wasn't the only youngster with high expectations.

The signs were encouraging for Spain's Sergio Garcia,

who penned his name to the list of amateur champions

when he triumphed here at Muirfield as an 18-year-old in 1998.

As amateur champion, Garcia was following in the footsteps

of his fellow countryman Jose Maria Olazabal.

And the Spanish hat-trick was completed this year

when Alejandro Larrazabal captured the title at Royal Porthcawl

in South Wales.

Larrazabal's father Gustavo and brother Pablo were

there to see him secure a coveted exemption to the Open.

And in Scotland, the family caught some of the morning

action on television before heading out for a lunch tee time.

The big day had finally arrived. The Ts were crossed,

the Is dotted and Larrazabal couldn't wait to get going.

I've been looking forward to it for a month right now

and the dream is always to play in a Major championship, so I'm excited.

It was though to be something of a baptism of fire.

The putter didn't always behave and the odd wayward drive,

such as here on the 17th, didn't put Larrazabal on the path to success.

He recorded a six over par 77.

There was better news for Garcia.

On a day when few exploited the benign, almost windless,

conditions, he put together a round of 71

to get his challenge off to a satisfactory start.

But the focus of attention wasn't monopolised by the younger brigade.

49-year-old Irishman Des Smyth, who created a new record as the oldest

champion in European Tour history when he won the Madeira Island Open

last season, enhanced his reputation as a links specialist with a 68.

Meanwhile, Els, still someway short of the veteran stage,

quietly put together a 70 and a platform.

Nothing very colourful about that round,

but the same couldn't be said for the opening effort of Duffy Waldorf.

The anything but understated American brought

a touch of Hawaii to the east Lothian shoreline.

He revelled in the sunshine during a pace-setting 67.

There was a lot of rough out there. Those bunkers are kind of deep too.

Fortunately, I haven't had to play links golf yet.

It was more American golf out there today.

And that fact was reflected on a leaderboard

in which the reigning USPGA champion David Toms and Phil Mickelson,

arguably the best player still waiting to earn

the status of a Major winner, both figured prominently.

The forecast for Friday, the second day's play,

completely different from yesterday, cloudy and wet this morning.

Rain easing a bit this afternoon and the winds moderate from the west.

Day two began dull and rather miserable -

not ideal spectating weather, but with extra moisture on the greens

and the wind continuing to hold off, the difficulty of the course eased.

One of those to seize full advantage was Scotland's own

Colin Montgomerie.

The seven times European money list number one followed

a mediocre 74 with a course record of 64

that left the locals in cheery mood.

After Monty's charge, no amount of rain could dampen their spirits.

CROWD CHEERS LOUDLY

64 round here is a good score, without dropping a shot,

it proves that I can play the game and I'm just looking forward

now to the weekend, especially the way that I'm swinging the club now.

There was also a record-breaking achievement by another

perennial darling of the crowd, Nick Faldo.

The Englishman's 69, a day after celebrating his 45th birthday,

was his 34th sub-70 round at the Open - one more than Jack Nicklaus,

the man who inspired him to take up the game in the first place.

There wouldn't be another

though, as Faldo finished modestly in a tie for 59th.

Just before two o'clock, Tiger Woods marched onto the first tee and

this particular Tiger was surrounded by scores of photographers.

The player known for his focus was, as usual,

the focus of their attention.

SHUTTERS CLICK

He is, after all, the most photographed player in golf.

Well, of course,

the R&A and the Open Championship do know the value of the written

press and in particular photographers because photographs do say

a lot in terms of the instant appeal of newspapers and magazines.

So we do value their support of the championship.

With over 600 journalists and photographers from more

than 30 countries, it's a cosmopolitan competitive affair.

Sometimes we see pictures and think,

"That would look fantastic on TV,"

but it doesn't actually work on a still and equally, I think

you can get a fantastic image of let's say Tiger in the rough,

the great clump of grass on the end of his club

and it's just frozen in time. It's a fantastic image.

However, collecting the images is only part of the process.

The process, these days, is very simple.

You have a small digital card, which you can get 150 images on,

so once we have some good stuff on there,

we have a runner who will just take that card, take it back to the

office and there's a whole procedure set up there.

There you go.

The image is uploaded into the computer

and we view the images on screen.

Edit the pictures we want

and they're sent to the picture desk in London.

Then they're broadcast to all the national papers

and magazines that have contracts,

so within two and a half minutes, three minutes,

of receiving the image, the newspapers have on their desk.

Justin Rose certainly wasn't in the frame after putting woes and a 75.

But it didn't rain on the parade of Maruyama whose sunny

disposition lifted the murk during a second consecutive round of 68.

Six under par for the 32-year-old from Chiba,

who won his first US Tour even this year.

Watched by his mother and girlfriend,

Woods began to make ominous progress in the right direction.

Ominous, that is, for the rest of the field.

His 68 left him in a tie for ninth, alongside his buddy

Mark O'Meara, and very much in the thick of things.

All departments of his game were in good working order.

A big weekend was confidently predicted.

Among the notables who failed to survive the cut was Tom Watson,

winner of the Open on five occasions between 1975 and 1983.

This time, he struggled from the word go.

Young Larrazabal also bowed out after 36 holes,

but the experience more than lived up to expectations.

Everything was amazing.

And this 18th hole with this kind of stadium, it's pretty unique.

Larrazabal, a beneficiary of the Royal & Ancient's

policy of encouraging amateurs.

I enjoyed it a lot, I'm a little bit sad about my score because

I play way better than what it shows, but it was a really good experience.

-I enjoyed it a lot!

-Good.

-It was a good experience. I played...awesome.

Padraig Harrington, at home on the links,

did much more than secure the right to play all four rounds.

The ultra consistent Dubliner, who is becoming an impressive

challenger in Major championships,

forced his way into joint first place, alongside Maruyama

and the American Bob Tway, with a controlled 67.

Going one better was Ernie Els.

While the round of the day undoubtedly belonged to Monty,

there was no confusing the nine holes of the day.

Big Ernie covered the outward half at Muirfield

in a mesmeric 29 strokes. Els could do no wrong.

When he walked off the ninth, he had put up some amazing statistics,

headed by seven birdies and ten putts.

His momentum was broken by dropped shots at the 11th and 13th,

but he still carded a 66 to vault into serious contention.

The first nine was obviously quite amazing really.

I mean, I just felt really good about my swing on the range

and just didn't quite play the same level on the back nine.

Ernie's fellow competitors were no doubt mightily relieved by that.

At the end of the day, Els was involved in a five-way

logjam for the lead at six under par.

That was to prove a sign of things to come.

I've got an opportunity to achieve one of my goals

and that's win a Claret Jug, but it depends on the weather conditions.

Obviously, we had good conditions today,

but over the weekend, things might get a little bit tighter

and, you know, you still have to lay the golf course

and each hole the way it should be played.

For Saturday, the third day's play, early starters will get

the best of the conditions, with the winds picking up for the afternoon.

Quite strong north-easterlies - about 30mph, bringing on a fair

amount of rain, so with that wind, it will be driving rain.

Our weatherman proved to be on the button,

but still they came in their thousands to witness a day when

the Scottish elements were to humble many of the game's leading lights.

The stars of the show arrived,

unaware of the ferocity of the tempest that awaited them,

but by the end of the day, they were more than glad to find refuge in the

various accommodations, especially those fortunate enough to be

billeted behind the tenth tee at the Greywalls Hotel,

which has played host to the three most recent Open champions

crowned at Muirfield and many other famous faces.

Around town, indeed right through to North Berwick and Edinburgh,

spying a vacancy sign was almost an impossibility.

But a place to rest wasn't a concern for the Swedes who chose to lodge

en masse in a nearby rented home.

In general, the idea is to help the players, well, basically,

with our accommodation,

and at the same time do something a little bit cosy for our Swedes,

since they travel most of the time between hotel rooms.

This is a bit different and it's nice for them to stay together.

This Scandinavian bonding has become a tradition.

We've done this a few years now and we usually bring a chef

and he's cooking in a golf club in Sweden and he's a keen golfer,

so he's actually spending his vacation here.

Appetising. And for the Swedes, that also applies to golf.

Especially following the country's success in events on both

sides of the Atlantic.

Golf has been booming in Sweden since the mid '80s

and there's a lot of people taking up golf still.

We've got a large number of players on the European Tour,

but we still haven't got the Major win

and I think that would be a big deal for Swedish golf.

Jesper Parnevik, who came so close to winning

the Open at Turnberry in 1994, before being edged by Nick Price,

also finished in a tie for second three years later.

This time, it's been a much quieter championship,

but a 70, posted early on Saturday, eventually brings a useful move.

Justin Leonard from Texas won the 1997 open at Royal Troon.

He tends to thrive on links land and shot a morning 68 that would

improve in credibility as the day went on.

His playing partner, Justin Rose,

also recorded a 68 to make a significant move as well.

As the weather began to deteriorate, Leonard and Rose

began to make their presence felt.

You could say they reached the clubhouse just in time.

At that point though,

neither knew what exactly was in store for the leaders.

Clearly, there was a huge storm brewing, as the leaders spent

time on the range going through their final preparations.

Across the bay, the dark clouds were rapidly approaching,

but Sergio Garcia had his mind on the championship,

not on the impending tempest,

and played solidly in the initial stages of the round.

England's Gary Evans,

who had the distinction of being in the opening group of the '91 and

'98 Opens at Birkdale, also looked good and would continue to thrill.

The weather really close in just after 1pm.

Driving rain, fierce winds

and a severe dip in temperature struck simultaneously.

When the final group teed off, it was more like midwinter than July.

'On the tee from South Africa, Ernie Els.'

Generally, conditions were extremely inhospitable.

This would obviously be a stern examination.

It was one of the most difficult days that

I can ever remember in an Open Championship for myself and to the

rest of the field and you just can't believe how the conditions were.

The weather was as bad as I can ever remember.

It's almost unbelievable it should happen in July.

It was more like a December or January day.

A fact reflected by an opening double bogey.

Maruyama's America base is Beverly Hills

but the warm Californian sunshine seemed a distant memory

as he too struggled in the conditions.

Even those well accustomed to the nastier side of the Scottish climate

were caught off guard by its impact.

Colin Montgomerie was comprehensively blown

out of the running.

His 84 was 20 shots worse than his score the previous day,

and with it, the Scot gained an unwanted mention

in the record books.

Monty had one consolation.

At least he was in good company on an afternoon that the golfing

elite won't forget in a hurry.

# Shoo-bee-doo-bee-doo-dee-dee-dee

# Dig, dig, dig, dig, digging

# Dig, dig in the ground

# Down in the hole

# Dig, dig, dig, dig in the ground

# Feelin' good in the ground

# I've got my spade, I've got my hoe

# I've got my rake and I'm ready to go. #

If you didn't laugh, you might have cried,

and Tiger certainly saw the funny side when he birdied the 17th.

It takes a fine sportsman to retain a sense of humour en route to an 81.

The worst round of his professional career.

Dreams of a Grand Slam gone, at least for 2002.

While so many trod water, shot-making Sergio

pieced together a 71.

You never know how it's going to go.

A day like today is really tough to play,

and, you know, you get a good feeling,

and you start hitting good shots, you get some confidence,

as I did, but if you hit a couple of wide shots you can struggle big-time.

His fellow competitors empathised with that view.

Score-wise, it was swiftly moving backwards and at one stage,

it looked as though Rose, Leonard and Garcia,

snug in the sanctuary of the clubhouse,

might well be the overnight leaders.

But Harrington, who later claimed to have played in much worse

weather as a junior in Ireland, was initially stubborn.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn also successfully limited

the damage on the way to a brave 73 to secure

a tee time at the business end of the championship one Sunday.

Eventually, and thankfully, the rain ceased and the skies cleared.

It remained decidedly chilly, hence the headgear,

but the likes of Soren Hansen,

the recently-crowned Irish Open champion,

began to claw back the odd shot here and there.

The improving Dane would complete the day at three under par.

Thomas Levet, attempting to go one better than Jean van de Velde

at Carnoustie, and become the first Frenchman to win the Open

since Arnaud Massy way back in 1807,

also produced the odd gem in the closing stretch to stay in touch.

And Ernie, displaying plenty of steel, wouldn't be

pummelled into submission either.

His tee shot on the 16th was a truly classy effort.

Maybe this time the twice US Open champion was on course

for victory in a major on this side of the pond.

And talking of classy, the same could be said about the round

of Evergreen Des Smyth,

the seasoned campaigner, who managed to defy Old Father Time

and cope, when so many of those in their prime struggled.

As the accompanying photographers, still searching for that back

page picture, trudged up the 18th,

Els wrapped up proceedings with a two-shot lead over Hanson.

He had scrambled a 72 and was justifiably proud.

I'm really pleased with it.

I cannot explain it well enough, I don't think.

You know, I never thought I would get it to five-under.

I thought, at best, to have broken 76 or 77 today would have been a call.

The way the conditions were.

I mean, it's the most amazing thing I've seen for a very long time

at this Championship.

So it was that Els went into the final round in pole position

from Hanson, with a further seven players only three shots adrift.

They included Leonard and Rose,

who had moved up an incredible 47 places.

Conditions for Sunday, the final day of the championship,

are in stark contrast to yesterday afternoon's conditions.

It's going to stay dry, it'll be bright,

the sun will break through,

temperatures up to a pleasant 18 Celsius this afternoon

with just a light west or north-westerly wind.

The early birds on Sunday got to witness some smashing golf.

And a few miles down the coast, off North Berwick,

there was another cluster of birds,

this time of the feathered variety.

Gannets...

herring gulls...

razorbills...

kittiwakes and puffins all inhabit the Bass Rock.

And Muirfield itself is something of a haven for wildlife, too.

We have produced this booklet to raise awareness

of the important wildlife and natural habitats found

on the golf course here at Muirfield and it's proved very popular.

Flower and fauna, simply beautiful.

We hope that this booklet illustrates

that our Open Championship venues in particular can provide

an environment in which wildlife can flourish.

Certain sections of grass took quite a beating - the rough.

But undoubtedly, the Open is an environmentally kind exercise.

That's why voles can comfortably coexist with 18 holes.

But there aren't any rabbits in this field and no-one was shocked

when Tiger came haring out of the traps in the fourth round.

Banishing thoughts of his problems on Saturday, never-say-die Woods

reached the turn in 33, then came home in 32.

Pride of performance is a powerful motivator

and Woods was showing that he's made of stern stuff.

Respectability restored but that Grand Slam will have to wait.

Australia's Peter O'Malley, renowned for his arrow straight driving, was

another to make a strong, early move.

This eagle at the ninth greatly helped his cause as did birdies

on the 10th, 11th and 12th to go to 4 under par for the Championship.

Likewise, things were going swimmingly for Gary Evans.

Having birdied six holes for an outward 31,

he cranked up the volume with this at the tenth.

Good, Evans and it didn't stop there.

Evans, who in a decade of European tour campaigning has never

lifted a trophy,

climbed further into rarefied air by also making a birdie at the 11th.

Suddenly, the man from the seaside town of Worthing was

installed as the one the rest had to catch.

A potentially fairytale story couldn't be discounted.

However, David Duval, the winner at Royal Lytham in 2001,

took a double-bogey seven at the ninth and any lingering

hopes of a successful title defence were extinguished.

He didn't win, but in the final round he did what you

expect from a champion.

With a 65, Tiger Woods was deservedly applauded up the 18th.

He would finish joint 28th and earn much respect.

With Woods packing for the flight back home to Florida, there was

just time for the galleries to grab some light refreshments or

maybe even take a wee dram in the tented village...

..before the final group sent out in search of glory.

Els, keen to win a championship that he's targeted for years,

couldn't have made a worse start,

finding trouble off the tee like so many others during the week.

Hacking back onto the fairway was the only option

and a bogey-five would result in a hole recognised

as the toughest opener on the Open rota.

Thomas Levet struck a crisp approach to the shot par-four second.

Birdie for the son of a Parisian doctor

who won last year's British Masters at Woburn.

And there was to be another birdie at the third

to go within three of the lead.

Australia's Steve Elkington knows what it takes

to snare a major and this birdie at the fourth

suggested another wasn't out of the question.

Maruyama, much warmer than on Saturday,

was playing much hotter golf.

Recovering from a bogey at the first,

the star of the East proceeded to birdie the next two holes

to go three under par.

But the Justins, Rose and Leonard, never figured prominently

and those who thought that Des Smyth could become the oldest

winner of a major championship were disappointed.

Still though, a fine effort from the near senior.

His level par total matched that of Woods.

The early clubhouse leader was O'Malley.

His 65 would set the tone on a day

when Australians would play more than a supporting role in the drama.

Evans led at six under par.

With Els, who after his first hole bogey was relegated to second,

O'Malley and America's Scott Hoch were very much interested

parties, along with Levet.

Following top-ten results in both the Masters and the US Open,

Harrington was equipping himself admirably on the big occasion again.

After that at the eighth he stood four-under.

Moments later, Harrington was joined by Hoch

who rattled in his fifth birdie of the day over at the tricky 14th.

Evans, meanwhile, was standing firm

with five straight pars from the 12th.

A few more rolls and the 16th could well have yielded a bonus birdie.

No point dwelling over that, and Evans didn't.

Instead, he powered a drive into the ideal location on the 17th fairway.

A birdie on the reachable par-five beckoned.

What subsequently transpired will remain in the thoughts

of Evans as long as he draws breath.

'Well, I thought it was pretty much over.

'I couldn't believe I hit it into 100, 150 people.

'No-one saw it, no one heard it.'

Can we all look down rather than look at me? I'd appreciate it.

'Not within five, ten yards, no idea.

'There were just so many people there.

'I didn't feel too good when I was walking back down the fairway.'

But Dominic, Evans' caddy thought quickly.

He also went back to the original spot

and helped his boss regain sufficient composure to find

the green with what was now his fourth shot.

Still, no-one could have anticipated what would happen next.

Displaying bulldog spirit, Evans refused to allow the golfing gods

to desert him.

I just walked down there and thought "Give it a chance", you know.

And that's precisely what he did.

Halfway to the hole I liked it, and then it broke slightly right

and it was heading towards the middle, and I thought, "Oh, please".

When it made it, I just couldn't believe it.

One of the great moments of the 2002 Open.

And super sportsmanship

from American Ryder Cup player Scott Verplank

who provided his playing partner with such encouragement.

My heart, I cannot tell you, how my heart was pumping.

It was just frightening.

What excitement and still a hole to go. How would the story unfold?

Over at the third, Els sank this to return five under par.

The Big Easy looked in relaxed mood and raring to go.

But the emotional rollercoaster ridden by Evans

was to take its toll.

Rough to rough on the 18th.

Worse still, the green wasn't found in three.

Evans would eventually have to delve deep to salvage a bogey.

He looked shocked.

And now endured a long wait to see

if his clubhouse lead would last the day.

Do you know, I didn't even know what I scored when I came in.

I had no idea, I just checked them off

but I didn't know what the final score was, I had no idea.

There were those that thought Maruyama could succeed,

where the likes of Isao Aoki and Jumbo Ozaki had come up short,

by becoming the first player from Japan to win a major.

An outward nine of 32 including five birdies set him on the way,

but sadly, three bogeys and four holes from the tenth

put paid to his dreams.

The entertainer later rued his expensive lapse

as he signed for a 68 and five-under.

Much was expected from Garcia

but it was a relatively subdued day for the Spaniard.

He fought hard but a 69 wasn't good enough to deliver his first major.

Mind you, the 22-year-old definitely has time on his side.

Retief Goosen, winner of the 2001 US Open,

and top of the European tour money list on arrival

at Muirfield, threatened on the front nine with three

birdies in succession, but he couldn't maintain that momentum.

Denmark had two contenders.

Soren Hansen moved to five under par

by tapping in for a birdie here at the ninth,

but couldn't bounce back from a bogey six holes later.

And Thomas Bjorn was always on the back foot after beginning

the day with a crushing double-bogey six at the first.

Steve Elkington, who just squeezed into this year's championship

through final qualification, was taking full advantage

of his place after a birdie on the 11th.

This shot to the 12th set up another par to remain at five-under.

And those down under were also cheering on Stuart Appleby, here

deftly saving power at the 14th to stay three-under and in contention.

For him, it was a confusing feeling.

I really had no idea where I was in the tournament.

I was thinking, well, "Stuart Appleby's playing nice,

"he's hitting the ball well, he's putting all right,

"what do I need to do?"

This was a multi-faced charge to the line

and throwing in his hat was Padraig Harrington.

This at the 15th brought birdie number four on the day and saw him

climb to five under par and joint second with Evans and Elkington.

His playing partner, Appleby, also only required three strokes

on the 15th to move his score to four-under.

This has being transferred into a complicated picture in which

Thomas Levet playing bogey-free golf was also entitled to have a say.

With holes running out, the issue was far from resolved.

Yet, just when it seemed as though everyone was struggling to take

the championship by the scruff of the neck,

Ernie Els struck a purple patch.

A birdie on the difficult 10th gave

the 32-year-old from Johannesburg a degree of breathing space

and his comfort zone, if you can call it that in the heat of an Open

battle, was expanded when he pounced with another birdie on the 12th.

Even when Els found trouble on the short 13th, he was unfazed.

It reminded me a lot of the great old bunker at St Andrews.

I had a stance and all I had to do was hit it as hard as I could.

In the eyes of many, the shot of the Championship.

But Els was then to discover the dangers

of dropping your guard at Muirfield.

The shot on 14th off the tee, I was going with a two-iron,

and after I discussed it with Ricky,

and I should have gone with a three-iron and put it in play,

but after making a mental error on 14,

I then had a lot of hard work left.

Harrington, trying to end 55 years without an Irish name

on the trophy, dating back to Fred Daly at Hoylake in 1947,

needed this for an eagle at the 17th to go seven under par.

Agonisingly line but not length.

Padraig settled for a birdie.

Feeling he needed more than six under to post a clubhouse score,

out came the driver on the final tee.

And the knock-on effect was a costly visit to sand, a closing bogey,

and a case of pondering what might have been.

Levet reached the 17th on four-under,

having played par golf for the whole back nine.

He then moved up a gear.

I was happy. That one on 17 was unreal.

At that time of the day, and being in contention,

you just feel it's unbelievable to make a pot like this.

An eagle three, six under par.

And you began to wonder if this was going to be his day.

So what of Appleby?

Jousting with his emotions, now five-under,

after a birdie at the 17th,

had this for another on the 18th, a round of 65 and six-under.

As they say in the Antipodes, "You little beauty".

I was feeling nervous from the very first hole, nervous all day.

But I guess nerves are more a stimulus than anything else.

But it was good. I made some putts today.

I hadn't really made any putts all week so that was nice.

Still, at minus seven, the title remained in the hands of Els,

who had reached the 16th.

It's a shot that, you know, that I'm normally good with because

I like to draw my irons

but I just tried to hit that seven-iron too hard.

A worried look, and on the face of Ernie's wife, Liezl.

Worse was to follow.

I went with a 60-degree sand iron

and I hit it, actually, a little bit thin and it went all

the way down and after that, you know, I was almost gone.

As Els was plumbing the depths,

up on the 18th, Levet was basking in a standing ovation.

He would make par and shoot 66 on a day

when his original game plan had been conservative.

He joined Appleby as clubhouse leader at six-under.

At the start of the day I said I was in contention and I wanted to

play next year, and my goal was to play just solid and make some putts.

Els chipped back up the 16th green well past the pin,

and couldn't prevent a double-bogey five.

Once more, the door was flung wide open. He was now one behind.

Walking off the 16th green was the lowest point of my entire week.

It was the most unbelievable pressure,

I'd never felt anything like that.

All of a sudden, 17 is the most crucial hole of my tournament.

Ricky tried to calm me down and he just said, "Put the best thing

"you can on this driver" and I had to do that, obviously.

I mean, if I missed the driver wouldn't be sitting here.

Even though he was bitterly disappointed, Els somehow

managed to boom one out there.

Things were now looking good for Elkington who, after birdie-ing

the 17th to go six-under, struck a majestic approach on the final hole.

Was the pendulum swinging in his direction?

It was a golden chance to set a stiff target.

But not converted.

Elkington had to be content with joining Levet

and Appleby, his fellow countryman, in the clubhouse on six under par.

As Elkington conducted his post-mortem, Els birdied

the 17th to regain a share of the lead and then there were four.

What a climax this had turned out to be.

Els, by now, refocused after his nightmare on the 16th.

He found the fairway and then the green.

He left himself this for the Championship.

It wasn't to be.

Els was bound for overtime.

And the prospect wasn't exactly enticing.

I really tried my best to try and birdie it.

The last couple years I haven't been good in play-offs.

Now, when I left that putt short, I was pretty much down in the dumps.

On a day when 13 players were bunched up

within two shots of the lead there

was to be an unprecedented conclusion

to the 131st Open Championship.

For the first time, the destination of the most prized

accolade in golf was to be determined by a four-man play-off.

It was decided that the groups would play the four hole

tiebreaker in two two-balls.

Levet made a valuable par on the first hole that's demanding in

any circumstances, but after finding sand, Elkington was to bogey.

After a quick sandwich and chat with his sports psychologist,

Els was back on the tee and in the groove.

Once again, finding the middle of the fairway.

But Levet, the least-experienced of the quartet in such a high-stakes

encounter, struck the initial blow with this for a birdie on the 16th.

Divine intervention maybe.

The 16th held bad memories for Els,

but the power of positive thinking enabled him

to laugh in the face of his demons. A safe and sure par would follow.

This time the 16th claimed a different

victim from the southern hemisphere - Appleby.

Elkington raised flagging Aussie title ambitions with this,

a birdie at the 17th.

Then Levet, who recorded a par at 17 to remain one-under, threw

away his advantage by ploughing into rough off the tee.

Then he visited a bunker and a bogey was staring him in the face.

History was to repeat itself up at the green

when Elkington missed a vital putt to the left one more time.

His opportunity had now gone. The shot to blame.

But despite a five, Levet retained hope.

Appleby's misjudged bunker shot saw him

ejected from the last chance saloon.

With Levet looking on, Els required all of his composure to take

the two of them into a head-to-head situation.

So it was that the first four-man play-off turned into the first

sudden-death play-off in the Open Championship.

Levet was relishing every moment as they journeyed back down the 18th.

But there was no cause to smile

when his tee shot ran into a penal fairway bunker.

Very much advantage Els.

And yet there was to be another twist in the tale.

You could tell from the expression.

When the South African pulled his second into the greenside

bunker, he needed to pull off the most pressured up and down

of his life to repel Levet's challenge.

This was becoming emotionally draining for Els,

but a wonderful spectacle for the galleries who gave both combatants

their third warm welcome up the 18th that day.

As the applause rang in his ears, El's already

responsible for a stunning bunker shot on the 13th of regulation play,

knew full well that something special was necessary again.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

How about that for a single shot under the microscope?

Els now had several fingers around the claret jug.

But Levet was to remain resolute to the end.

His ultimately courageous bogey

meant Els needed to save par to become

the first South African to win the Open since Gary Player in 1974.

Champion at last.

Relief, his overriding emotion.

It's just been an unbelievable four days and five holes, you know?

I had a lot of patience yesterday,

and to be honest with you, I guess I had a lot of patience today.

To almost be a clear winner and then almost be a clear loser

in the space of three or four holes, you know, feels unbelievable.

Obviously, that is a very tough day.

With a score of 278, the winner of the Gold medal

and the champion golfer for the year is Ernie Els.

APPLAUSE

The words Els wanted to hear above all other.

At times I really thought I would never put my hands on this.

And, you know, it's the hardest tournament I've ever had to play

this week, and it's one of the most rewarding. THE most rewarding.

I tried to come here with a lot of confidence and I'm going to leave

here as the Open Champion.

It's just been a phenomenal journey for me, this week.

Golf in all its glory.

The Open Championship starts Thursday, 18th July across the BBC.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd