Scott can learn from the perseverance of Els

Victory in any Major championship is never a divine right regardless of age or pedigree.

It has to be earned.

The ultimate demise of one of golf’s great professionals, Adam Scott, yesterday is a case in point. But, as cold as it sounds, the game is full of similar players all impatiently waiting to cross over the threshold of golfing immortality. Professional sport at the highest level can be so cruel, but that’s what makes the scale of personal achievement for the victor so rewarding.

Scott will wake up this morning chastened by his experience. A winner of 21 titles around the world, he would have been familiar with the process required to close out a victory. But this was a Major championship and when the going got tough, he wilted, bogeying the final four holes to hand a second title to Ernie Els.

Scott, over the years, has not threatened much during Major championships, largely due to an inconsistent putter. However, yesterday, armed with three solid rounds, a four-shot lead, a performing long putter and a veteran caddie in Steve Williams, one would have thought his date with destiny had arrived.

His start was predictably nervous with his long putter coming to his rescue on more than one occasion. But, just when it seemed that no one was capable of breaking free to seriously challenge him, along came Els. But even he needed a little help from Scott to realise his ambition of becoming a Major champion for the fourth time.

This crushing blow will be very hard to take for Scott, but he can learn a lot from the perseverance of Els, who himself has had a catalogue of crushing blows inflicted on him over the past decade by his great adversary Tiger Woods. This week he openly admitted Tiger intimidated him in his prime but he will take a lot of pleasure from yesterday’s performance. He will be especially pleased that he was the only one of the leading contenders who shot under par and when it mattered most he birdied the last hole to secure an unlikely victory.

Els now joins a stellar list of great champions at Royal Lytham and St Annes, but, more importantly, this victory will help resurrect what was a flagging career in recent years. Els received no invitation from the Augusta committee this year to participate in the US Masters, but, as much as that decision now looks foolish, it may well have been the best thing for him, forcing him to re-evaluate his ambitions within the game.

The fact he has responded so positively in such a short period speaks volumes about his character.

Once again huge credit has to be given to Graeme McDowell who has now become a Major championship specialist. Although he would have been disappointed by yesterday’s final round, he has become one of the game’s elite performers and surely another Major cannot be too far away.

The very same can be said for Tiger Woods. He may well have got back to his winning ways in regular PGA events but Major championships are something different altogether. Much like everyone else around him, he gives the impression of a golfer who wants to win again so badly that, at times, he seems to be mentally getting in the way of himself.

That said, you have to admire his sheer tenacity. Before the year’s final Major, he has a lot to do in terms of consistently controlling the distances of his irons as well as his clutch putting under pressure.

In times gone by, he could rely on his putting to cover other flaws in his game, but that’s no longer the case. Winning Majors has become a whole lot tougher for the man who wants to be the greatest player of all time.

Lytham and St Annes was a great test for the players last week. Once again it produced a great champion in Els, while also providing the drama befitting a Major championship.

Links golf is unique in that regard; it significantly nullifies the modern power game aided in no way by the advances of technology. Links courses have the uncanny ability to effortlessly take players out of their comfort zone.

Just ask poor old Adam Scott!