Els holds nerve in play-off to fulfil his dream

The Open: South African escapes from greenside bunker to capture claret jug after Levet pays for loose shot off tee at first sudden-death hole

Forget the "Big Easy", a sobriquet Ernie Els has insisted for years has been misapplied. The South African proved his case in the most dramatic circumstances by winning the 131st Open Championship at the third time of asking. Els only triumphed over France's Thomas Levet at the sudden-death extra hole following a four-hole strokeplay play-off competition that also involved the Australians Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby.

Muirfield has reputedly one of the hardest 18th holes to par to secure a win in a championship such as this. Els made a four at the hole no less than three times. On the first, at the end of regulation play, Els saw his birdie attempt for victory from 25 feet come up two feet short. In truth, he was fortunate to join the three players already in the clubhouse at six under after he nearly threw away the tournament at the short 16th.

His next attempt at the end of the strokeplay play-off. This time he had a birdie attempt from 15 feet that just missed. He was the only one to par the hole. The bogeys by Elkington and Appleby eliminated them, while the five by Levet dropped him back to level par with Els. It was Levet's first dropped shot in 22 holes.

They returned to the 18th tee where Levet continued his policy of taking a driver off the tee. For a player new to the worldwide stage, the Parisien was clearly enjoying his evening in the spotlight. Levet won the British Masters at Woburn last year in a four-way play-off, prior to which he picked up a ball-marker with a shamrock on it that he was still carrying in his bag.

He finally ran out of luck when he drove into a fairway bunker. He had to chip out and his third left him a long putt. It whizzed past the hole, fractionally missing, but he holed the putt back for another five. Els, drinking from the well of agony to the last drop, pushed his approach into a greenside bunker. The recovery was magnificent, leaving him a five-foot putt. This he could not afford to miss.

"This was one of the hardest tournaments I have played in, but it is the most rewarding," said Els, who finished fifth at Muirfield as a 22-year-old 10 years ago. "This is the greatest championship. I have been dreaming of winning the Open for a long time.

"If I didn't win it this year I don't think I would have made it. I am really going to enjoy it. I had a fabulous time but it was very hard. Every time I had control of the tournament, I hit a bad shot. I am still in shock. It has been a phenomenal little journey this week."

From the moment Els, the US Open champion in 1994 and '97, hit his first tee-shot of the day into a fairway bunker, leading to an opening dropped shot, he was not going to replicate Nick Faldo's 18 pars for victory in 1987. Little did he know how the day would replicate Faldo second victory at Muirfield in '92. Then Faldo had a commanding lead but lost it before playing the "best four holes of his life". He thought his career would have been over had he lost. The player at the receiving end was John Cook, whose playing partner was the young Els.

The longest of Open Sundays began with a 65 by Tiger Woods to restore pride after his 81 in the storm of Saturday afternoon. Woods, at level par, was too far back to threaten the leaders on a day of relative calm in the meteorological department, but his lead was followed by Gary Evans. The Englishman's 65, including an emotionally wrenching par at the 17th after he lost a ball and a battling bogey at the last, set the clubhouse target at five under.

Els with birdies on the ninth, 10th and 12th held a two-stroke lead. He played a beautiful recovery from a bunker on the 13th, a shot that was technically more difficulty than the one on the last later on, but then bogeyed the 14th. First, Appleby with a 65 in which he birdied the last two holes, then Levet with a 66 in which he made the only eagle of the day at the 17th and then Elkington, also with a 66 but having missed a five-footer on the last which, later it was obvious, would have been for victory, were safely home at six under.

At the short 16th, Els pulled his seven-iron left of the green. He slightly thinned his chip and the ball did not hold the green. Another chip and two putts meant a double-bogey five. "I was really down then. I thought it had gone," Els said. "I was thinking dark thoughts. I asked myself if I wanted to be remembered for screwing up the Open like that."

Now one behind, he played the 17th perfectly. He found the green in two, but the 20-footer for eagle just missed. He was still upset, but rallied himself to par the last. He then sat in the recorder's hut trying to take in what had happened before speaking to his wife, Liezl, and the ubiquitous Jos Vantisphout, his sports psychologist, who also works with Levet.

"I needed time to compose myself but I was ready for the play-off," Els said. He was helped by the decision to play the strokeplay part of the first four-way play-off in the Open as two two-balls, with Els drawn in the second group. This was because the play-off was strokeplay rather than matchplay and for crowd control reasons.

Elkington, who came through Final Qualifying at Dunbar, would have been in a three-way play-off for two spots until news came through of Paul Azinger's withdrawal from as they were walking to the tee. Levet made the running at the start of extra time by holing a long, curling putt at the 16th to be the only man to get under par in the play-off.

Later, Levet said: "I have no regrets. I played well." Els became the man who stopped the Tiger's Grand Slam in its tracks. "I think the weather did that yesterday," Els said. "I guess prevailing last night after the storm [to take the 54-hole lead] gave me the opportunity to be sitting here right now. I had a lot of patience yesterday and today. To be the clear winner and the clear loser in the space of a few holes shows I have some fight left."

FINAL SCORES

(GB or Irl unless stated)

278
E Els (SA) 70 66 72 70
(Els won sudden-death play-off with Levet after Appleby and Elkington were eliminated from four-way play-off)
T Levet (Fr) 72 66 74 66
S Appleby (Aus) 73 70 70 65
S Elkington (Aus) 71 73 68 66

279
G Evans 72 68 74 65
P Harrington 69 67 76 67
S Maruyama (Japan) 68 68 75 68

280
P O'Malley (Aus) 72 68 75 65
S Hoch (US) 74 69 71 66
R Goosen (SA) 71 68 74 67
T Bjorn (Den) 68 70 73 69
S Garcia (Sp) 71 69 71 69
S Hansen (Den) 68 69 73 70

281
D Love III (US) 71 72 71 67
N Price (Zim) 68 70 75 68
P Lonard (Aus) 72 72 68 69
J Leonard (US) 71 72 68 70

282
B Estes (US) 71 70 73 68
G Norman (Aus) 71 72 71 68
D Waldorf (US) 67 69 77 69
S McCarron (US) 71 68 72 71

283
C Riley (US) 70 71 76 66
T Izawa (Japan) 76 68 72 67
M O'Meara (US) 69 69 77 68
C Pavin (US) 69 70 75 69
D Duval (US) 72 71 70 70
J Rose 68 75 68 72

284
T Woods (US) 70 68 81 65
P Fulke (Swe) 72 69 78 65
B Dredge 70 72 74 68
B Langer (Ger) 72 72 71 69
N Fasth (Swe) 70 73 71 70
J Kelly (US) 73 71 70 70
J Parnevik (Swe) 72 72 70 70
L Roberts (US) 74 69 70 71
D Smyth 68 69 74 73

285
N Lancaster (US) 71 71 76 67
I Woosnam 72 72 73 68
D Clarke 72 67 77 69
S Leaney (Aus) 71 70 75 69
A Coltart 71 69 74 71
S Verplank (US) 72 68 74 71

286
E Toledo (Mex) 73 70 75 68
S Jones (US) 68 75 73 70
T Immelman (SA) 72 72 71 71
C Pettersson (Swe) 67 70 76 73

287
P Eales 73 71 76 67
J Maggert (US) 71 68 80 68
R Mediate (US) 71 72 74 70

288
W Bennett 71 68 82 67
M Ilonen (Fin) 71 70 77 70
F Andersson (Swe) 74 70 74 70
I Poulter 69 69 78 72
B Tway (US) 70 66 78 74
S Katayama (Japan) 72 68 74 74
B Lane 74 68 72 74
I Garbutt 69 70 74 75
C Perks (NZ) 72 70 71 75

289
S Stricker (US) 69 70 81 69
S Cink (US) 71 69 80 69
R Green (Aus) 72 72 75 70
P Lawrie 70 70 78 71
N Faldo 73 69 76 71
K Kuboya (Japan) 70 73 73 73
J Durant (US) 72 71 73 73

290
P Mickelson (US) 68 76 76 70
J Moseley (Aus) 70 73 75 72
C DiMarco (US) 72 69 75 74

291
M Cort 73 71 78 69
T Taniguchi (Japan) 71 73 76 71
S Ames (Trin) 68 70 81 72
L Mattiace (US) 68 73 77 73
J Carter (US) 74 70 73 74
M Weir (Can) 73 69 74 75

292
S Lyle 68 76 73 75
C Smith (US) 74 69 71 78

293
A Hansen (Den) 71 72 79 71
R Wessels (SA) 72 71 73 77

295
L Janzen (US) 70 69 84 72
M Calcavecchia (US) 74 66 81 74

294
D Park 73 67 74 80

297
C Montgomerie 74 64 84 75

298
D Toms (US) 67 75 81 75