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Els also has had his share of grief, the very nature of the game. He finished runner-up in three straight majors in 2000, twice by big margins to Tiger Woods. He had come close before at Royal Lytham in 1996, finishing two shots behind Tom Lehman. He threw away the PGA Championship at Riviera in 1995, which would have given him two majors before Woods arrived to dominate golf.
But nothing compares with 2004.
Els had a chance to win all four majors that year -- he played in the last group in two of them -- and came away empty.
In a thrilling display of birdies between Els and Phil Mickelson at the Masters, the Big Easy finished his round of 67 and headed to the putting green to see if there would be a playoff. Mickelson was playing the 18th, needing a birdie to win. The gallery at the Masters is so enormous that he couldn't see Mickelson or what was about to unfold. All he could do was listen as he tried to rap putts.
The roar was shattering in so many ways. Els simply walked to the locker room.
This time, behind the Victorian clubhouse at Lytham, he munched on a sandwich and talked on his phone. And when Scott made the last of his four straight bogeys, missing from 7 feet on the 18th, Els was a major champion and in some pretty exclusive company.
He became only the sixth player to win the U.S. Open and British Open twice. He became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1984 to win a major after being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
He joins Mickelson with four majors, second to Woods among active players. Els always thought he belonged in the class with Seve Ballesteros, who won five, or Nick Faldo, who had six majors.
This British Open featured three days of perfect weather and just enough wind Sunday to make it interesting. There were small ponds in pot bunkers. There was Woods, legs splayed outside a pot bunker on his way to a triple bogey. There was Scott, a reminder of how cruel golf can be.
But the lasting image 10 years from now will be Els, a giant in the game in so many ways, caressing that precious claret jug after winning a major only he thought possible.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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