2012 British Open: Round 4 Highs and Lows

There is really no rite of passage to winning one of golf's major championships. The Claret Jug does not generally go to the player with the best week tee to green, or the one that has the least amount of putts. Driving distance is for stat geeks lost in minutia of mind bending numbers, not major championship hardware.  

The most recent major went to the second best golfer this week. He just happened to be leading when the music stopped and every player had played 72 holes.

Adam Scott does not realize it yet. It may hit him tonight, next Tuesday or maybe next year. He had it. He had crossed the bridge labeled, this is your time, danced a wee bit, waved the presidential wave—and then inexplicably, he stopped and returned to the side of the common player wannabe.

When the bunker dust had settled, Ernie Els won his fourth major, and second British Open. Adam Scott was left in Van De Veldian stupor with stock answers to questions about what happened.  

This was not an average major, this major was very un-average.  

Azinger Forgot the Rules of Golf

When Tiger Woods was forced to make a decision on how to play his bunker shot at No. 6, Paul Azinger said he could take an unplayable lie. It's not that simple Paul.

Woods had three real rule bound options. He could have taken a two-club-lengths drop, no closer to the hole, but he would have had to stay in the bunker. He could have also dropped in the bunker behind a line between where his ball lay and the hole, with no limit to going back to the edge of the bunker as long as the ball was dropped in the sand. His third option would have been to replay the shot that put him in the bunker in the first place. All three options come with a one-stroke penalty which was not pointed out by Azinger.

Simply taking an unplayable lie—and placing it out of the bunker is for weekend hackers that don't know any better. It sounded like a good option at the time, just not the correct option.

Woods Played with a Caution Light

Woods gave more respect to Royal Lytham that it deserved  And his sit back and execute my game plan style is not vintage Woods.  

Weekend golf for Woods has become frightful. And the results reveal a player far below the one that has 14 major championships in his trophy case. He needed to be more aggressive on some of the holes to make birdies. His conservative play left him out of the discussion late on Sunday.

The Belly Putter Let Him Down on 16 and 18.

Adam Scott had a chance to make par on 16. He had just a four footer, but it just smiled out of the hole and sat on the edge. That putt was the beginning of the bogey-train that never ended. It can be hard to win your first major championship. The belly putter was anchored to his belly, but it was sending Scott's golf ball everywhere except the bottom of the cup.

Two crucial putts, two misses and the tournament could not be recaptured. It eluded the same fingers that wrapped around his Scott Cameron belly putter.

Scott's Birdie on 14

It was the beginning of the end. Adam Scott rolled a birdie putt in the center of the hole on 14. Looking back, the birdie putt sent Scott into a mental place that must have given him a false sense of "I've won the Open Championship."

The cruel game of golf reared its behemoth force upon the leader. He would not par another hole.  

The Big Easy's Putt on 18

This was the putt that won the tournament. Or, it was the putt that put Els into a tie with Adam Scott at seven-under while the Aussie had one hole remaining. Or, it was the gut-check putt that put the final pressure onto the reeling Scott. It will be the putt that golf fans remember—maybe.

Where Is Waldo, Graeme or Sneds?

If at the beginning of the final round anyone would have told Brandt Snedeker or Graeme McDowell that seven-under would be holding the Claret Jug, they would not have believed it.

They failed to rally and were left to ponder errant shots, especially a three-wood-heat-seeking gorse bush hack by McDowell.

McDowell has played in the last group in both the U.S. Open and now the Open Championship.