Final-Round Flameouts

The most recent examples of contenders crumbling on Sunday of major championships

By Alex Myers

Follow on Twitter: @AlexMyers3

July 22, 2012

There is little that will comfort Adam Scott (right) after his collapse late at Royal Lytham & St. Annes during the 141st Open Championship, when he saw a four-stroke lead evaporate over the final four holes. But maybe after his one-shot loss to Ernie Els, there's this: Scott isn't the first player to see his major dreams unravel in dramatic fashion, and he certainly won't be the last. In the past decade, in fact, there have been several of note.

Play Slideshow

Pause

View All Thumbnails

1 of 10

Adam Scott, 2012 British Open

For 68 holes at Royal Lytham & St. Annes during the 141st Open Championship, Adam Scott appeared unflappable. Then, in an instant, his four-shot lead was gone. Bogeys on 15 and 16. An approach over the green and into the deep rough on the 17th hole. Then, after falling into a tie with Ernie Els, the cruelest blow of all: a drive into a fairway bunker on 18 that forced him to lay up well short of the green. He managed to knock his third shot close, but when he missed a par putt to force a playoff, Scott had completed one of the worst collapses in major championship history. The affable Australian has always counted countryman Greg Norman as one of his idols. It's fair to say the two will have plenty to talk about now.

Warren Little/Getty Images