It was an exciting finish at the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Anne's as Adam Scott was looking to hang on to his big lead down the stretch.

But thanks to an impressive birdie putt on the 72 hole by South African Ernie Els, and a complete collapse by Scott over his last four holes, led the way for Els' second Open title, and fourth major of his career.

Els fired a final round of 2-under 68 on a day that red numbers were hard to come by, though was looking like it would matter not as Adam Scott was well ahead of the field. But with bogies on his last four holes, including missing a par putt on the18th to force a playoff with Els, Scott would have to settle for second. He finished with a round of 5-over 75 on Sunday.

Tiger Woods also struggled mightliy on Sunday, dropping a number of shots including a triple-bogey on the 6th. Still, Tiger would finish tied for third with Brandt Snedeker after a 3-over 73

Els, 42, has now won a major in three different decades.

Full leaderboard can be found here.

For more on the British Open, head over to SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.