2012 Open Championship: Ernie Els wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Ernie Els won the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 273 (−7), by 1 stroke over Adam Scott.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 2012 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 19 July 2012 to 22 July 2012
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 141st Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 70
- Purse
- £5,000,000 · winner's share £900,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Ernie Els · age 42 · South Africa · born Johannesburg, South Africa
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- World ranking entering
- No. 40
- Winning score
- 67-70-68-68 = 273 (−7) · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Adam Scott (274)
- 54-hole leader
- Adam Scott (199) · Ernie Els was 6 strokes back
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Caddie
- Ricci Roberts
Top 18 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernie Els | 67 | 70 | 68 | 68 | 273 | −7 |
| 2 | Adam Scott | 64 | 67 | 68 | 75 | 274 | −6 |
| T3 | Tiger Woods | 67 | 67 | 70 | 73 | 277 | −3 |
| T3 | Brandt Snedeker | 66 | 64 | 73 | 74 | 277 | −3 |
| T5 | Luke Donald | 70 | 68 | 71 | 69 | 278 | −2 |
| T5 | Graeme McDowell | 67 | 69 | 67 | 75 | 278 | −2 |
| T7 | Nicolas Colsaerts | 65 | 77 | 72 | 65 | 279 | −1 |
| T7 | Thomas Aiken | 68 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 279 | −1 |
| T9 | Geoff Ogilvy | 72 | 68 | 73 | 67 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez | 71 | 69 | 73 | 67 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Ian Poulter | 71 | 69 | 73 | 67 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Alex Norén | 71 | 71 | 69 | 69 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Vijay Singh | 70 | 72 | 68 | 70 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Dustin Johnson | 73 | 68 | 68 | 71 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Matt Kuchar | 69 | 67 | 72 | 72 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Mark Calcavecchia | 71 | 68 | 69 | 72 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Thorbjørn Olesen | 69 | 66 | 71 | 74 | 280 | E |
| T9 | Zach Johnson | 65 | 74 | 66 | 75 | 280 | E |
What happened at the 2012 Open Championship
Adam Scott led by four with four to play, then bogeyed the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th, missing a par putt at the 18th that would have forced a playoff.
Els birdied the 72nd hole to finish 273, coming from six behind at the start of the round.
Adam Scott, level with Els after bogeys at 15, 16 and 17, drove into a bunker at the 18th and missed from eight feet for par and a playoff.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's The Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: the-open.json (The Open room's data), with GNN's Open Championship addendum tables L (top ten by round), H (deciding hole), W (final-day weather).