Ernie Els closed with a two-over-par 72 on Sunday to finish on four-under-par for the tournament in a share of eighth in the Senior Open Championship which was played at Sunningdale.
Els got things going in the opening nine of the final round, making two birdies ahead of the turn as he reached eight-under at that point in his quest to challenge for the lead. But three bogeys on 10, 12 and 13 stymied his charge, and, although he picked up another birdie on the 14th, closing bogeys on 17 and 18 saw him slip one spot down on the final leaderboard.
Up ahead, Stephen Dodd of Wales claimed his first senior major title as he closed with a two-under 68, finishing on 13-under for the week, one ahead of runner-up Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain. Darren Clarke was third on 11-under, Bernhard Lager fourth on nine-under and England’s Paul Broadhurst fifth on eight-under.
James Kingston, after leading the first round, overcame indifferent second and third rounds with a closing 68 to move into a share of 11th on two-under with Thomas Bjorn, Rich Beem, Colin Montgomerie and Tom Lehman.
Chris Williams was in a share of 53rd on seven-over for the tournament, Clinton Whitelaw in 64th on nine-over, and David Frost in 70th on 11-over.
