Ernie Els wins British Open in beautiful fashion

Lytham St. Annes, England - Ernie Els grabbed the ball from the hole for a birdie, and he pushed past the grandstands. At the time it looked like nothing more than an elegant gesture of a former British Open champion - not the next. Would be the name on the Claret Jug Adam Scott, who had to play a four-shot lead with four holes. But in a shocking reversal Sunday, Els returned to the 18th Green is less than an hour later to claim the oldest trophy in golf. Scott was a list of players who have been thrown in size. This has not dropped on Els, whose heart, as he looked lost on the Australian 32 years. "I'm sorry," Els told him. "You're a great player, a great friend of mine. I'm very happy. You will save a lot of them." Scott could not get another chance like this. After hitting a 3-wood into a pot bunker on the final hole, Scott had one last chance when he was a putt from seven feet to the par to force a playoff. He remained on the left side of the cup, and Scott fell into a crouch. Standing on the side, his chin quivered, as the extent of the crisis hit. Instead, he spoke a single word: "Wow." Wow, yes. While Els had spent more than two years without a win, and had thrown two tournaments fragile in recent months with putting felt the Big Easy all the time something special would happen to the British Open. And he did - because of a breakdown of Scott, which nobody saw coming. "I know that I miss a chance to really great in my hand today," Scott said. On a windy afternoon at Lytham & St. Annes, Royal blew away the hopes of Tiger Woods and a handful of others, Scott seemed more stable than ever before, by just eight holes without a bogey. And that's where it was reversed. "I have it in my hands to go with four," Scott said. A bogey from the bunker on the 15th cut the lead to three. This was a three-putt bogey on the 16th, where his 3-foot par putt spun in and out of the cup and made the breath gallery followed. From the middle of the fairway 17, he hit a 6-iron that turned left, ran down the hill and took one last swing to Shin-high grass.