Hamilton wins Open Championship in playoff over Els

Hamilton hit an iron off the 18th tee right of the fairway where the gallery was walking and was allowed a free drop. Els followed with an iron tee shot to the right side of the fairway. Hamilton hit a 5-iron approach from 223 out that landed well short of the green. Els then rifled his approach to 12 feet below the hole. Hamilton used a fairway wood to putt the ball to 2 feet from the cup. Els missed his putt, and Hamilton tapped in the win the Open Championship.

TROON, Scotland (AP) -- Toughened by a 12-year journey through some of the most obscure outposts in golf, Todd Hamilton finally arrived in a major way Sunday with a playoff victory over Ernie Els to win The Open Championship.

A year ago, he didn't even have a PGA Tour card.

After a hard-fought final round at Royal Troon and four extra holes against one of the best players in the world, the 38-year-old American won the claret jug and was introduced as the champion golfer of the year.

What a ride!

Hamilton made four pars in the playoff, the last one the toughest of all. From 40 yards short of the cup, he used a utility club to bump the ball along the crusty grass to within two feet of the cup. Els had one last chance, but missed a 15-foot birdie putt.

Hamilton knocked in the final putt, started to retrieve it from the hole, then realized what he had just done. He let out a whoop, raised his arms in the air and hugged his caddie, Ron Levin.

For the second year in a row, the silver jug went to a player no one could have imagined at the start of the week. But unlike Ben Curtis, who was ranked 396th when he won at Royal St. George's in his first major, no one will ever call Hamilton a fluke.

Not after he beat back a leaderboard loaded with major champions.

Not after he refused to get flustered when Phil Mickelson took the lead with eight holes to play.

And certainly not after going toe-to-toe with Els in a pressure-packed playoff.

"It was truly a blast," Hamilton said.

Hamilton, an 11-time winner on the Japanese Tour, thought he had hit the big time when he birdied the final two holes for a one-shot victory over Davis Love III at the Honda Classic in March.

Now, his name is on the oldest trophy in golf, alongside names like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Hamilton was fighting back tears as he prepared to hoist the jug.

"We've got a great champion," said Els, who had a chance to win in regulation until missing a 12-foot birdie putt that sent the Open into its fifth playoff in the last 10 years.

For Els, it was another major setback.

He had one arm in the green jacket until Mickelson made an 18-foot birdie on the final hole to beat him by one shot at the Masters. Els played in the final group at the U.S. Open, two shots out of the lead, and shot 80.

Els had to make 10-footers for birdie on the 16th and 17th holes to keep his hopes alive at Royal Troon. And when Hamilton bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation, the Big Easy had a 12-foot putt for the win.

But he left it short, and his putter let him down in the playoff. He missed a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 1, and fell behind when he overshot the third extra hole, the par-3 17th, and missed a 10-footer for par.

Hamilton made sure he never caught up.

"Coming so close obviously is disappointing," Els said. "To get into the playoff from where I was, you've got to take the positive."

Els shot 68 in the final round and earned a dubious distinction. He had all four rounds in the 60s for the second time in an Open without winning; the other time was at Royal St. George's in 1993.

Hamilton closed with a 2-under 69 to become the sixth consecutive American to win the Open at Royal Troon.

They finished at 10-under 274, one shot ahead of Mickelson.

Hamilton, who finally got his PGA Tour card in December, earned about $1.35 million and is exempt for the next five years in the three U.S. majors and the PGA Tour. He can play the Open until he's 65.

"I've won tournaments around the world before, but nothing on a stage like this," Hamilton said. "So to be Open champion is very special."

Lefty looked like a winner when he saved par with an 18-foot putt at No. 9 and a 15-footer at No. 10, putting him in the outright lead for the first time. But he missed a four-foot par putt on the 13th hole, ending his streak of 49 consecutive holes without a bogey at Royal Troon.

Ultimately, it cost him a chance to win his second major.

Despite a birdie on the par-5 16th, Lefty didn't give himself a good look at birdie on the final hole and had to settle for third place. He had never finished in the top 10 at an Open, and now has gone 1-2-3 in the majors this year.

"The guys behind me were making the birdies, and I wasn't," Mickelson said. "I was just playing for pars and thought shooting even par was going to be good enough."

Lee Westwood of England birdied two of the last three holes for a 67 to finish fourth, his best ever at the Open. Davis Love III holed a six-iron from 192 yards on the 18th hole for eagle to shoot 67 and tie for fifth.

Woods had a chance to get within one shot of the lead, but he missed a six-foot birdie putt on No. 7 and was never the same. He dropped three shots the rest of the way and shot 72. It was his first top 10 in a major since last year at the Open.

Still, Woods now has gone nine majors without winning and was reduced to an afterthought for much of a breezy afternoon along the Firth of Clyde.

"I had a chance this week," Woods said. "Hopefully, next time in the PGA I will win the tournament."

The Open didn't need Woods around to supply the drama -- especially the final two holes.

Hamilton, playing in only his eighth major, was cool as can be coming down the stretch and looked like a sure bet to win after chipping in for birdie from 30 feet on the par-3 14th to get to 10 under. Then he holed a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 16th to keep his cushion.

Els had to make birdies to keep up, and he came through with pure putts on the 16th and 17th. Then came the wild 18th, where both players had a chance to win.

Nerves caught up with Hamilton when he pushed his iron off the tee and into the rough, then chopped it across the fairway next to a guard railing that restricted his swing. Making the shot even more difficult was that Els hit his approach to within the shadow of the flag, a 12-foot birdie attempt.

Hamilton chipped to 20 feet and missed to take bogey. Els suddenly had a putt to win, which seemed impossible throughout the back nine.

He hit into the side of a hill on No. 10, had to take a swing with the ball level with his knees, and made double bogey. He played another shot with the ball nestled waist-high in a prickly gorse bush, and somehow salvaged par.

But with the claret jug only a 12-foot putt away, Els left it short.

He was the heavy favorite in the playoff -- No. 2 in the world with three majors against a journeyman ranked No. 56 playing in only his eighth major. But Hamilton played as though he had been working for this his entire life.

An amazing journey around the world ended on the 18th green at Royal Troon.

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