British Open 2011 Scores: Dissecting the Day 4 Leaderboard

Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke won the 140th edition of the British Open and gave the region its third major champion in 13 months. He joins Graeme McDowell, who won the US Open in 2010, and 22-year-old Rory McIlroy, who won the US Open last month.

Clarke shot even-par 70 today at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, to finish with a score of five-under 275. This gave the Dungannon native his first title after 19 previous tries.

With the win Clarke breaks Nick Price’s record for most appearances at the Open before a first victory. Price won the 1994 title in his 15th try.

Clarke was challenged on the final round by Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who finished tied for second at two-under.

Johnson started the day one shot behind Clarke and Mickelson was five behind. But it was Mickelson was for the most part the story of the day as he made an incredible charge in his front nine.

Mickelson eagled the seventh hole to get to five-under and in share of the lead. You could only think if we were witnessing the greatest performance in Mickelson’s career, and he could finally win The Open.

Mickelson may have been the only one who said his game plan for the day was to shoot under par for him to contend. But it was his habit of derailing himself that caught up with him.

After getting to six-under with a birdie at 10, he missed a short putt on the 11th and from there seemed like his charge ran out of steam, as he would have three more bogeys in a back nine he had played at two-under before.

Johnson had an up and down day and mounted a challenge by getting to five-under after a birdie at the 12th hole. And once again history caught up to him when at the 14th, he inexplicably tried to keep his second shot low and went out of bounds.

Clark held steady and answered both challenges. Shortly after Mickelson got the share of the lead, Clarke also eagled the seventh hole to get a two-shot lead he never relinquished.

He also got breaks all day like the one at the ninth hole where he rolled up a shot over a bunker that could have derail him. But no squall, wind or contender was a match for him at his greatest win.

Behind the leaders in fourth place was 2003 runner-up Thomas Bjorn, who finished at one-under after shooting one-over. He got to three-under after birdie on the eighth but never got closer and bogeyed 15 and 17.

Tied for fifth were Americans Chad Campbell, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler. Campbell, who finished T15 here in 2003, shot a one-under today, his third round in the 60s. His only bad round was yesterday at four-over. He was even par when he birdied the  18th.

Kim, who started at one-under and was paired with Mickelson, shot an even-par round. He got to three under after a birdie on the 12th, but finished with bogeys on the 15th and 18th.

Fowler never got anything going, even when he had a couple of chances to get some birdies. He started with 13 consecutive pars before his first bogey at the 14th and later another at the 16th. He never was a threat.

Eighth was Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin at one-over. He was at two-under exiting the front nine but had three bogeys and two birdies in the back, and was never a factor.

Tied for ninth were Sergio Garcia, Davis Love III and Simon Dyson. Garcia, who was paired with Rory McIlroy, was the early mover after shooting four birdies in the first seven holes. But then he doubled-bogeyed the eighth and never got a charge again.

Right behind them T12 were No. 3 in the world Martin Kaymer and Americans Steve Stricker and Lucas Glover. Glover started at one-under but got derailed early on.

From the rest the notables were Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, who finished T15 at five-over. Five-time Open champ Tom Watson finished T22 at six-over.

Further behind, US Open champ Rory McIlroy finished T25 at seven-over. T30 at nine-over were Americans Jason Day and Bubba Watson and Silver Medal winner Tom Lewis. Last year’s Open champ, Louis Oosthuizen, finished T54 at 13-over.