2012 Open Championship

The 2012 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 141st Open Championship, held from 19 to 22 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. Ernie Els won his second Claret Jug, one stroke ahead of runner-up Adam Scott. Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker finished tied for third, four strokes behind Els, who gained his fourth major title.[2][3]

2012 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates19–22 July 2012
LocationLytham St Annes,
Lancashire, England
Course(s)Royal Lytham & St Annes
Golf Club
Organized byThe R&A
Tour(s)
Statistics
Par70
Length7,086 yards (6,479 m)[1]
Field156 players, 83 after cut
Cut143 (+3)
Prize fund£5,000,000
6,316,000
$7,810,500
Winner's share£900,000
€1,136,880
$1,405,890
Champion
South Africa Ernie Els
273 (−7)
← 2011
2013 →
Lytham & St Annes is located in England
Lytham & St Annes
Lytham &
St Annes
Lytham & St Annes is located in Lancashire
Lytham & St Annes
Lytham &
St Annes
Location in Lancashire. England

Scott was the leader after 54 holes at 199 (−11), with Els six strokes back, tied for fifth.[4] After a birdie at the 14th hole, Scott was four strokes ahead with four holes to play. Els, two groups ahead of Scott on the course, birdied the 18th hole for a score of 68 and the clubhouse lead at 273 (−7). When Scott agonizingly bogeyed each of the final four holes, he dropped to second and Els won the Championship by a single stroke.[4][5]

Entering the final round, Graeme McDowell and Snedeker were tied for second at 203 (−7), four strokes behind Scott.[4] McDowell shot a 75 (+5) and Snedeker a 74 to knock them out of contention; Woods had a triple bogey at the sixth hole and carded a 73 to tie for third with Snedeker.[4]

Venue

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The 2012 event was the eleventh Open Championship to be played at Royal Lytham & St Annes. The previous one was in 2001, when David Duval won his only major championship, three strokes clear of runner-up Niclas Fasth. Tom Lehman won the previous Open at the venue, in 1996.

Course layout

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Hole Yards Par    Hole Yards Par
1 205 3 10 387 4
2 481 4 11 598 5
3 478 4 12 198 3
4 392 4 13 355 4
5 219 3 14 444 4
6 492   4^ 15 462 4
7 592 5 16 336 4
8 416 4 17 453 4
9 165 3 18 413 4
Out 3,440 34 In 3,646 36
Source:[1][6] Total 7,086 70

^ Hole #6 was a par 5 in previous Opens.

 
7th hole green in 2009

Lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[7]

Field

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Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.[8][9]

1. Past Open Champions aged 60 or under on 22 July 2012

2. The Open Champions for 2002–2011

3. Past Open Champions born between 22 July 1946 and 19 July 1948

  • This exemption category was introduced in 2008 when the age limit for past Open Champions was reduced from 65 to 60. It enabled those past Champions aged 60 to 65 at that time to continue playing until they were 65. Johnny Miller is now the only player in this category. He has not played in the Open since 1991.

4. Past Open Champions finishing in the top 10 and tying for 10th place in The Open Championship 2007–2011

5. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in the 2011 Open Championship

6. The first 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking for Week 20, 2012

7. First 30 in the European Tour Race to Dubai for 2011

8. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2010–2012

9. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the 2012 PGA European Tour Race to Dubai on completion of the 2012 BMW PGA Championship

10. First 2 European Tour members and any European Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from the seven official European Tour events leading up to and including the 2012 Irish Open

11. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2012 Alstom Open de France and the 2012 Barclays Scottish Open[15]

12. The U.S. Open Champions for 2008–2012

13. The U.S. Masters Champions for 2008–2012

14. The U.S. PGA Champions for 2007–2011

15. The U.S. PGA Tour Players Champions for 2010–2012

16. The leading 30 qualifiers for the 2011 PGA Tour's Tour Championship

17. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied from #6, in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup points list of the 2012 PGA Tour on completion of the HP Byron Nelson Championship

18. First 2 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from The Players Championship and the five PGA Tour events leading up to and including the 2012 Greenbrier Classic

19. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2012 Greenbrier Classic and the 2012 John Deere Classic[15]

20. Playing members of the 2011 Presidents Cup teams

21. First place on the 2011 Asian Tour Order of Merit

22. First place on the 2011 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit

23. First place on the 2011 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit

24. The 2011 Japan Open Champion

25. First 2, not exempt, on the Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2011

26. The leading 4 players, not exempt, in the 2012 Mizuno Open[15]

27. First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied (26) above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2012 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2012 Mizuno Open

28. The Senior British Open Champion for 2011

29. The 2012 Amateur Champion

30. The 2011 U.S. Amateur Champion

31. The 2011 European Individual Amateur Champion

32. The Mark H. McCormack Medal winner for 2011

  • Patrick Cantlay forfeited his exemption by turning professional in June 2012.

Qualifying

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International Final Qualifying

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Local Final Qualifying

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  • (a) denotes amateur

Twenty players were appearing in their first major championship: Nick Cullen, Alan Dunbar, Harris English, Yoshinori Fujimoto, Andrew Georgiou, Ashley Hall, John Huh, Kodai Ichihara, Ian Keenan, Jbe' Kruger, Anirban Lahiri, Morten Ørum Madsen, Garth Mulroy, Steven O'Hara, Juvic Pagunsan, Ted Potter Jr., Aaron Townsend, Manuel Trappel, Grant Veenstra, and Dale Whitnell.

A further 12 players were appearing in their first Open Championship: Matthew Baldwin, Keegan Bradley, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Justin Hicks, Troy Kelly, Troy Matteson, James Morrison, Scott Pinckney, Chez Reavie, Michael Thompson, Johnson Wagner, and Sam Walker.

Notable absences included Mark O'Meara (who had appeared in the previous 17 Opens) and Henrik Stenson (who had appeared in the previous seven).

Alternates

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Where places are available to make up the full entry of 156, these additional places are allocated in ranking order from the Official World Golf Ranking. The alternates are allocated when it becomes clear that additional places are available (using the latest World Rankings), except that places allocated after the issue of Week 27 rankings (9 July) use those rankings.[27]

After the final qualifying events on 15 July there were 157 qualified players. The withdrawal of Robert Karlsson reduced the field size to the usual 156. Russ Cochran then withdrew and was replaced by Michael Thompson (ranked 56), as Ben Crane (ranked 54) chose not to travel.

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, 19 July 2012

The weather conditions during the first day of the tournament turned out to be less harsh than expected, with very little wind and cloudy skies. Adam Scott made eight birdies and only two bogeys en route to a 6-under-par 64, tying the course record. Tiger Woods shot a 3-under 67, hitting all but one fairway in regulation.[28]

Place Player Score To par
1   Adam Scott 64 −6
T2   Nicolas Colsaerts 65 −5
  Zach Johnson
  Paul Lawrie
5   Brandt Snedeker 66 −4
T6   Ernie Els 67 −3
  Peter Hanson
  Graeme McDowell
  Rory McIlroy
  Toshinori Muto
  Steve Stricker
  Bubba Watson
  Tiger Woods

Second round

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Friday, 20 July 2012

Some rain showers wet the course overnight and in the early morning hours, but the calm conditions continued into day two of the tournament. Brandt Snedeker fired a bogey-free round of 64 to vault to the top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead of Adam Scott, who shot 67. Tiger Woods, for the second straight round, only missed one fairway in regulation and shot another 3-under 67, including a holed green-side bunker shot for birdie on the 18th hole, to enter the weekend trailing the lead by four shots.

Tom Watson, at 62 years of age, set a new record as the oldest player to make the cut in the history of the Open Championship, beating his own record set in 2011.[29]

For the first time since 2003, no amateurs made the halfway cut.

Place Player Score To par
1   Brandt Snedeker 66-64=130 −10
2   Adam Scott 64-67=131 −9
3   Tiger Woods 67-67=134 −6
4   Thorbjørn Olesen 69-66=135 −5
T5   Thomas Aiken 68-68=136 −4
  Jason Dufner 70-66=136
  Matt Kuchar 69-67=136
  Paul Lawrie 65-71=136
  Graeme McDowell 67-69=136
10   Ernie Els 67-70=137 −3

Amateurs: Dunbar (+6), Trappel (+17).

Third round

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Saturday, 21 July 2012

In the third round, leader Brandt Snedeker faltered by shooting a 73 (3-over-par) to move him down to a tie for second with Graeme McDowell, who rose up to second place with a score of 67 (3-under-par).[30] Adam Scott, who entered the round one stroke behind Snedeker, shot a 68 (two under par) to move to eleven strokes under par, retaking the lead from Snedeker.[30] Tiger Woods shot an even par of 70 to stay at six strokes under par, moving him to fourth place behind Scott, McDowell, and Snedeker.[30]

Anirban Lahiri scored the first hole in one of the Championship at the 9th hole.[31]

Place Player Score To par
1   Adam Scott 64-67-68=199 −11
T2   Graeme McDowell 67-69-67=203 −7
  Brandt Snedeker 66-64-73=203
4   Tiger Woods 67-67-70=204 −6
T5   Ernie Els 67-70-68=205 −5
  Zach Johnson 65-74-66=205
7   Thorbjørn Olesen 69-66-71=206 −4
T8   Thomas Aiken 68-68-71=207 −3
  Bill Haas 71-68-68=207
T10   Mark Calcavecchia 71-68-69=208 −2
  Matt Kuchar 69-67-72=208
  Louis Oosthuizen 72-68-68=208
  Bubba Watson 67-73-68=208

Final round

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Sunday, 22 July 2012

In the fourth and final round, leader Adam Scott got off to a poor start on the front nine holes by scoring a 36 (2-over-par), bringing his score to nine-under par.[4] Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker, and Tiger Woods entered the round within striking distance of Scott, but each faltered and sank out of contention.[4] McDowell shot a 75 (five-over-par), and fell to a tie for fifth with Luke Donald.[4] Snedeker double-bogeyed the seventh and eighth holes, leading to a final round score of 74 (4-over-par), in a tie for third with Woods. Woods had trouble with a greenside bunker on the sixth hole, and triple-bogeyed the hole which he had birdied in each of the three previous rounds. Woods scored a 73 to put him into a tie for third with Snedeker.[4]

Despite two bogeys on the front nine, Ernie Els got back to even par for the round with a birdie at the 12th hole and then birdied the 14th.[4] Scott also birdied the 14th but bogeyed the next three to leave him at 7-under, tied with Els, who had birdied the final hole.[4] On the tournament's 72nd hole, Scott put his tee shot into a bunker and had to exit sideways to the fairway. His third shot left him an 8-foot (2.4 m) par-saving putt to force a playoff, but it missed to the left. Els was bogey-free on the back nine with four birdies to card a 32 (−4) and win by one stroke.[4]

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1   Ernie Els 67-70-68-68=273 −7 900,000
2   Adam Scott 64-67-68-75=274 −6 520,000
T3   Brandt Snedeker 66-64-73-74=277 −3 297,500
  Tiger Woods 67-67-70-73=277
T5   Luke Donald 70-68-71-69=278 −2 195,000
  Graeme McDowell 67-69-67-75=278
T7   Thomas Aiken 68-68-71-72=279 −1 142,500
  Nicolas Colsaerts 65-77-72-65=279
T9   Mark Calcavecchia 71-68-69-72=280 E 79,600
  Miguel Ángel Jiménez 71-69-73-67=280
  Dustin Johnson 73-68-68-71=280
  Zach Johnson 65-74-66-75=280
  Matt Kuchar 69-67-72-72=280
  Alex Norén 71-71-69-69=280
  Geoff Ogilvy 72-68-73-67=280
  Thorbjørn Olesen 69-66-71-74=280
  Ian Poulter 71-69-73-67=280
  Vijay Singh 70-72-68-70=280

Scorecard

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Hole   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10   11    12   13   14   15   16   17   18 
Par 3 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 4
  Els −5 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −4 −4 −5 −5 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7
  Scott −10 −11 −10 −10 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −9 −8 −7 −6
  Snedeker −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −5 −3 −3 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −3
  Woods −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −3 −4 −4 −3 −4 −4 −5 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −3
  Donald −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 E −1 E −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2
  McDowell −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −5 −5 −6 −5 −4 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2 −3 −2 −2
  Aiken −3 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −4 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2 −1
  Colsaerts +3 +3 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +1 E E E E E −1 −1 −1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[32]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b "Course guide". The Open. 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Ernie Els rallies to win Open". ESPN. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  3. ^ "The Open 2012: Final round as it happened". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Tournament Leaderboard". ESPN. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  5. ^ Murray, Ewan (22 July 2012). "Ernie Els stuns Adam Scott in amazing finish". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Scorecard". Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Open Championship 2012 Exemption Categories". The R&A. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Open Championship 2012 Entry List". The R&A. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Mark O'Meara pulls out of British Open with injury". CBCSports. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Anthony Kim out with tendinitis". ESPN. Associated Press. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Jason Day out of Open Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Robert Karlsson out of Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  14. ^ "Simpson skipping British Open". PGA Tour. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  15. ^ a b c For categories 11, 19 and 26 ties are decided in favour of the player with the highest World Ranking at the commencement of the tournament.
  16. ^ "Cochran pulls out of British Open, Thompson in". Associated Press. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.[dead link]
  17. ^ Garrity, John; Stricklin, Art (23 April 2012). "Pro Move: U.S. Amateur champ Kelly Kraft had a blast at the Masters, but he gave up exemptions to the U.S. and British Opens to make a run at a Tour card, a tactic that could become common". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  18. ^ "International Final Qualifying: Australia". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  19. ^ "International Final Qualifying: Africa". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  20. ^ "International Final Qualifying: Asia". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  21. ^ "International Final Qualifying:America". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  22. ^ "International Final Qualifying:Europe". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  23. ^ "Local Final Qualifying: Hillside". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  24. ^ "Local Final Qualifying: Southport & Ainsdale". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  25. ^ "Local Final Qualifying: St Annes Old Links". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  26. ^ "Local Final Qualifying: West Lancashire". scoring.theopen.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  27. ^ "2012 Open Championship Entry Form – The Starting Field". Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  28. ^ Harig, Bob (20 July 2012). "Adam Scott shoots 64 to grab lead". ESPN. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  29. ^ Markham, Carl (21 July 2012). "Tom Watson defies age barrier to make the cut". Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  30. ^ a b c "Adam Scott shoots 68 in 3rd round". ESPN. Associated Press. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  31. ^ "Hole-in-one icing on the cake for debutant Lahiri, Jeev slips". zeenews.com. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  32. ^ "2012 Open Championship leaderboard". Yahoo! Sports. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
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53°44′58″N 3°01′05″W / 53.7495°N 3.018°W / 53.7495; -3.018