British Open 2012: Twitter Reaction to Ernie Els' Win

Following a birdie on hole No. 18 to finish his day and a four straight bogey collapse from leader Adam Scott, Ernie Els captured his second Claret Jug in a thrilling final round Sunday.

Els' run of accuracy and smart play were two keys to victory. While every other contender put together streaks of multiple bogies throughout the week, Els stayed steady. The Big Easy put together a tournament leading 79.2 greens in regulation percentage while never shooting an over-par round at Royal Lytham.

Scott's historic collapse, Tiger Woods' continued string of major disappointments, and Els' victory were all running narratives throughout the day. And as those narratives played themselves out, the masses took to Twitter to express their thoughts.  

What were some of the best tweets of the day? Follow along for a complete breakdown of the Twitter reaction to Ernie Els' capturing of the 141st British Open Championship.  

The Snark

As always, major sporting events are a haven for the never-ending stream of parody accounts on the Twitterverse. Here are some of the best from the parody universe:

"

BREAKING: Ernie just walked up to Adam Scott *fake handshake/single pistol* “NICE CHOKE JOB BABAY**pop collar* *pat on shoulder* walk away

— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) July 22, 2012"

"

BREAKING:2011 Boston Red Sox impressed by Adam Scott's ability to collapse

— Faux John Madden (@FauxJohnMadden) July 22, 2012"

But it wasn't just parody accounts.  Even WWE great The Iron Sheik gave the Australian Scott a Sheikian ribbing:

"

Ernie Els the real. The Adam Scott not ready for the Wrestlemania

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) July 22, 2012"

Where Are You Old Tiger? It's Us, Twitter.

A three-over score of 73 prevented Woods from ever being in true contention Sunday. Another poor performance from Woods elicited some strong reaction from around the golf world. Some, most notably Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins, relished in yet another Tiger failure.

"

I didn't think I was a good enough person to have Tiger Woods and Stevie Williams lose on the same day.

— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) July 22, 2012"

Golf Channel's Ryan Laviner simply expressed shock at how far Tiger has fallen.

"

Unbelievable to think that in the three majors this year, Tiger Woods hasn't broken par in a weekend round.

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) July 22, 2012"

But it wasn't all negativity on Twitter for golf's former best player. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton blasted out some encouragement for Woods to his 900,000+ followers.

"

@TigerWoods Am a big fan. Keep doing your thing man. Cant wait for the day u kill it again...God Bless. Lewis

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 22, 2012"

Poor Adam Scott

While the aforementioned jokesters of the Twitter world seemed to relish in the comedic fodder of Scott's failure, others expressed their words of encouragement and sympathy for the 32-year-old Australian.

"

A message for Adam Scott. W.I.N. stands for What's Important Now. Forget this and move on!!!!! -Dr Lou@SportsCenter

— Lou Holtz (@ESPNDrLou) July 22, 2012"

"

One of the nicest guys in the game, Adam Scott. Hope he can recover from this.

— Andrew Cotter (@MrAndrewCotter) July 22, 2012"

Not everyone was feeling bad for Scott though. A few prominent members of the Twitterverse decided Scott's collapse was a good opportunity to remind us how awesome it is to be Adam Scott.  

"

Poor Adam Scott will have to go back to being devilishly handsome and filthy rich.

— Will Brinson (@willbrinson) July 22, 2012"

"

Poor Adam Scott; we should feel so bad for him because he just made about $1 Million and is going home to this: twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob…

— R. Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) July 22, 2012"

Congratulations, Ernie

Through all of the snark and disappointment, there was one thing everyone could agree on: Ernie Els is a wonderful man who deserves to win his second Claret Jug.

"

So proud of Ernie Els. What a legend. Proved a lot of people wrong and made me and all of South Africa proud. Will have one you you tonight

— Jacques Kallis (@jacqueskallis75) July 22, 2012"

"

Ernie Els spent his whole winning speech consoling his friend Adam and thanking his team for all their help and support, #classact

— Hank Haney (@HankDHaney) July 22, 2012"

"

After winning the British Open, Ernie Els thanks Nelson Mandela for his stewardship of South Africa. Dude just won the day for me.

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 22, 2012"