When Nice Guys Finish Second

         

           Nice guys don’t always finish last, sometimes they finish second. However, Adam Scott’s second place finish at the British Open was far more painful than finishing last.

            Scott gave away the Claret Jug on the final hole of her majesty’s major. His collapse culminated with a seven foot putt that rolled to the left of the hole. Scott then sank to the ground while the ball stayed on the green.

            When Scott crouched down on 18 he knew what happened. The Australian knew that he had lost a great chance for his first major title. Scott knew that he bogeyed the last four holes of the tournament. He knew that he had been crushed like a grape by the pressure of a major tournament.

Also, Scott knew that he had only himself to blame.      

The champion, Ernie Ells, did not run down Scott like a cheetah in the last four holes. Even when Ells did sink his final birdie on 18, Scott still had two holes of golf to play. One more birdie would have made Scott the 18th different player to win a major since 2008. Even if Scott pared 18, he could have redeemed himself in a playoff round.

            Yet it was never supposed to even get to that point.

By the time he had reached 15 on Sunday, Scott could practically feel the jug on his lips. He was at -9 on Thursday, took the lead on Friday, cradled the lead Saturday, and had a four stroke lead with four holes to play on Sunday.

Then Scott slowly, painfully slowly, began to come undone.

The bogey on 15 was one of few mistakes that Scott had made all weekend. Then Scott missed an unforgivable four foot putt on 16 to bogey again. After his second shot on 17, Scott had to will his ball to the green to try and save par. When Scott missed par for the third hole in a row, he was tied with one last hole to play. On 18, Scott’s first shot hit the sand. The co-leader somehow got the ball seven feet from the green in two shots and had a chance to save himself.

Yet the shot Scott needed to hit listed lazily to the left.

Now, Scott joins the group of infamy made up of men who gave away majors.  

Scott’s collapse was, unfortunately, Greg Norman-esque and Jean Van de Velde like. While Scott’s lead (four strokes) at this Open was not as big as Norman’s (six strokes) in the 1996 Masters, it was Scott who fell harder and faster. Van de Velde, the man with the infamous triple bogey at the 1999 British Open, at least got a chance to win via playoff hole. Scott missed his chance at a playoff when his last shot failed to find the hole.

          The expression of anguish on Scott's face post final bogey summed up his last four holes. Scott had the Claret Jug in his hands, until the pressure of the moment turned the jug into liquid, and the trophy slipped thorough his fingers.