Adam Scott was left to rue a mid-tournament lull and a hefty slice of bad luck after having to settle for a third successive top-five finish at the British Open.
World No.1 Scott stormed home with an impressive six-under 66 in Sunday’s final round at Royal Liverpool to finish at 12-under for the tournament, five shots behind champion Rory McIlroy.
He shared fifth spot with compatriot Marc Leishman, the only Australians to finish under par for the tournament.
While Scott continued a remarkable run of results at the historic tournament, he had arrived desperate to become the first Australian since Greg Norman to win the Claret Jug after some painful near-misses.
While he let chances slip from winnable positions in 2012 and 2013, Scott was always chasing the impressive McIlroy this year.
The Queenslander could not hide his frustration at being lumped in the unlucky side of the draw that copped testing, windy conditions on the first two days, as the weather worked out perfectly for McIlroy’s half.
“I’m disappointed but I’m going to give myself a little bit of a break and say it was such a lop-sided draw this week,” Scott said.
“Having only a couple guys in the top 25 after two rounds playing on my side of the draw, it makes it hard to compete when Rory has obviously played two beautiful rounds.
“Being nine (shots) back in really nice conditions over the next two days, it was very hard to catch up.”
Scott felt a one-over 73 in the second-round was particularly costly and also rued a slow start in the third round, when conditions were favourable for the entire field.
“I had a very stagnant 27 holes in the middle of a tournament. It’s tough to recover from,” Scott said.
“I played exceptionally well this week. I really did. Tee to green has been very, very good.
“I felt I had the game ready to win.”
The 34-year-old will at least get to keep his world No.1 ranking but, with McIlroy now breathing down his neck at No.2, Scott said he would have to work even harder.
“The level of golf is incredible. If it’s not one guy, it’s another just tearing up major championships,” Scott said.
Leishman started Sunday a shot behind Scott but fired a course record-equalling 65 to clinch his second top-five major finish.
The 30-year-old was equal fourth behind Scott at last year’s US Masters and he’s emerged as genuine threat in big tournaments.
“It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that if I play well I can contend,” Leishman said.
Matt Jones (+2), Jason Day (+3), John Senden (+3) and major rookie Rhein Gibson (+10) weren’t able to get in the hunt on the weekend while Brett Rumford and Bryden Macpherson missed the cut.
