SOUTHPORT, England--Player reaction after the final round of the 137th Open:
Padraig Harrington (74-68-72-69--283), eyeing the claret jug he gets to keep for another year after turning it in to R&A officials earlier in the week as the defending champion: "It's a little shinier than I remember."
Greg Norman (70-70-72-77--289): "Toughest thing today? Shooting 77. . . . I can stand here now and say, yeah, I'm disappointed. Where does it rank in those [other disappointments in the majors]? Probably not as high as some of the other ones. Quite honestly, I'm sure I surprised a lot of people."
Ian Poulter (72-71-75-69--287), on finishing second, four strokes behind: "To hear everybody screaming and shouting and driving you on is a massive adrenaline rush; it's a massive boost. You know, I've done my best, and it hasn't quite been good enough. But I'll be back for lots more of this."
Sergio Garcia (72-73-74-78--297): "Whatever chances I had today, I threw them away on the back nine. I just went brain dead; my body just didn't react to my thoughts. I couldn't think straight and didn't make any good decisions."
Chris Wood (75-70-73-72--290), age 20, on being the low amateur after finishing T-5 and mentioning that his sister had called him earlier in the week and asked, "Are you at that golf thingy?": "She sent me a text message last night. I can't remember what it said. I don't think she knows much about golf."
Ernie Els (80-69-74-69--292), on a T-7 finish after an opening-round 80: "The first day I played myself out of the tournament on the back nine, going nine over in nine holes. How do you come back from that?"
K.J. Choi (72-67-75-79--293): "I had no feel for my putting yesterday, and it was similar today, especially with the windy conditions. I feel I'm getting close to winning a major, and I'm not really that far away."
Phil Mickelson (79-68-76-71--294), "I really struggled on the greens, and consequently my score wasn’t what I would've liked. . . . The positives I can take are that I probably hit it better in the wind than I ever have. I didn't capitalize on some of the shots I hit."
Simon Wakefield (71-74-70-79--294), on a lost ball and another ball out-of-bounds that led to a triple bogey at the par-5 17th: "I hit a good tee shot down 17, but the wind never hit it at all, and I lost the ball. It's obviously tough to keep going when something like that happens. I hit a provisional down the middle, then I leaked a 3-iron right, and the wind caught that one and took it out-of-bounds."
Colin Montgomerie (73-75-74-76--298): "I don't know what you can take out of it. Driving home tonight I'll have a think, but there's nothing really I can take."
David Howell (76-71-78-67--292), on shooting Sunday's best round: "Well, I had three three-putts and shot 67, so that goes to show what can be done."
Justin Rose (74-72-82-73--301), 10 years after finishing T-4 in the Open as a 17-year-old amateur: "It's just a great course. I'd rank it among my favorites on the rota. I don't know why it creates so much drama, but it does."
Thomas Sherreard (77-69-76-72--294), on his top memories playing as an amateur this week: "I think just being around the players off the golf course. Tom Watson walked past us in the hotel the other day, and you just can't believe it."
--Mike O'Malley
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