British Open Results 2012: Highlighting the Top European Performances

The drought continues.

Ernie Els' win on Sunday marked the 13th straight non-host winner at the Open Championship, which always takes place in England or Scotland.

Scotsman Paul Lawrie won the Open back in 1999, but ever since then, the storied tournament has been dominated by visitors. 

What's worse, no one really came close this year. Englishman Luke Donald finished in a tie for fifth at two-under, but he was never really in contention for the Claret Jug. 

The struggles of Great Britain aside, however, there were plenty of Europeans who had a nice weekend. Let's take a closer look at the best ones. 

Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland, -2

While it's been 13 years since we've seen a British winner at the Open, the other part of the United Kingdom—Northern Ireland—was represented by a Claret Jug winner in 2011 when Darren Clarke grabbed the victory.

McDowell almost made it two years in a row. 

After going 67-69-67 in his first three rounds, McDowell found himself seven strokes under par and in sole possession of second place heading into the final day.

But, just like the other half of the final pairing, Adam Scott, McDowell fell apart on Sunday, piling up seven bogeys en route to a plus-5 round.

Nonetheless, a fifth-place finish at the Open Championship is nothing to dismiss. 

Luke Donald, England, -2

The world's No. 1 is probably starting to grow a little uneasy about his inability to win a major, but most players would kill to be the top Englishman at the British Open. 

Donald, who tied his best ever fifth-place finish at the Open, was easily one of the most consistent players of the week. 

En route to his two-under tournament, the 34-year-old went 70-68-71-69. He only had seven bogeys throughout the entire week, but he just couldn't get his putting going at a consistent rate. As a result, he never put together the huge round necessary to put him in real contention.

As always, Donald did nothing if not assure himself as a favorite at the PGA Championship, but it's unlikely he'll find solace in that. 

Nicholas Colsaerts, Belgium, -1

If Donald had a boringly good tournament, Colsaerts was just the opposite. 

The young Belgian, who finished an impressive seventh in just his fourth ever major (he also finished 27th at the U.S. Open earlier this year), started the tournament with a gaudy five-under 65 on Thursday.

Of course, the 29-year-old followed that up with a 77 on Friday and 72 on Saturday to completely drop him out of contention. 

Sure enough, as soon as everyone had forgotten about Colsaerts, he came back with yet another 65 on Sunday. This one, however, came on a day when the wind was causing everyone else to struggle.

Colsaerts moved up an amazing 47 spots on the final day, capping off easily the most bi-polar tournament of the week. 

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