British Open 2012 Standings: Day 4 Highlights, Winner and Twitter Reaction

Ernie Els captured the second British Open championship of his career on Sunday with a magnificent final-round performance that included a collapse of epic proportions from Adam Scott.

Scott entered the final round with a four-stroke lead, but played his worst round of the tournament with a five-over 75. He ended the day with four straight bogeys, which allowed Els to make one of the best comebacks in the history of the British Open.

"

Ernie Els started the 4th round 6 shots behind Scott (T-2nd biggest 54-hole deficit overcome to win Open Championship.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 22, 2012"

While Els was consistently strong throughout the day and made few mistakes, most of the other leaders did not perform well at all. Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell and Zach Johnson—all of whom were in the final three pairings—played their worst round of the tournament on Sunday.

Woods was a factor for most of the tournament, but a triple-bogey on the seventh hole and three straight bogeys on Holes 13 through 15 prevented him from making a late charge.

McDowell, who was with Scott in the day's final pairing, shot a five-over 75 and was having accuracy issues on several holes.

Johnson also shot a 75, which was nine strokes worse than his 66 on Saturday, while Snedeker shot a 74 on Sunday to finish tied for third overall with Woods.

Other notable performances include Bubba Watson finishing T-23rd, Rickie Fowler finishing T-31st, Rory McIlroy finishing T-60th and Phil Mickelson missing the cut.

Let's look at the final leaderboard, the best highlights of the final round and discuss Els' amazing win.

Final 2012 British Open Leaderboard

Pos.	Player	Score
1st	Ernie Els	-7
2nd	Adam Scott	-6
T-3rd	Tiger Woods	-3
T-3rd	Brandt Snedeker	-3
T-5th	Luke Donald	-2
T-5th	Graeme McDowell	-2
T-7th	Thomas Aiken	-1
T-7th	Nicolas Colsaerts	-1
T-9th	Ian Poulter	E
T-9th	Zach Johnson	E

Day 4 Highlights

Ernie Els' birdie putt on No. 18 put pressure on Scott.

Adam Scott missed a par putt on No. 18 that would have forced a playoff.

Tiger Woods had to shoot out of a bunker on one knee.

Photo of the Day

Els kisses the Claret Jug after winning the British Open.

"

Here is your Champion Golf of the Year. 2012 Open Champion - Ernie Els #TheOpen twitter.com/The_Open/statu…

— The Open (@The_Open) July 22, 2012"

Els Makes History

Els has been a contender at major championships for almost 20 years, and after some disappointing performances at majors since his last victory in 2002, he will now have a lot more confidence heading into next month's PGA Championship as well as next season.

"

Ernie Els becomes the 8th golfer in history to win a major in 3 different decades.

— theScoreTicker (@theScoreTicker) July 22, 2012"

Els' luck against Australians at the British Open also has continued with his victory over Scott.

"

10 years ago, Ernie Els won his 1st Open Champ title in a 4-way playoff. He beat 2 Australians (Appleby & Elkington) & Thomas Levet.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 22, 2012"

Scott will never forget the opportunities that he didn't take advantage of at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club.

He may never have a better chance to win a major in his career, and it will be interesting to see how this devastating defeat affects his career going forward. These types of collapses are tough to come back from.

Els is a worthy champion and a role model for all golfers to look up to. His play in the final round gave sports fans everywhere a truly amazing Sunday afternoon of exciting golf.

Nicholas Goss is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.