Open Championship 2013 blog: Adam Scott at the Final Round

Open Championship 2013 blog

When Adam Scott gets home tonight maybe he should slip into his Green Jacket for a while. At least that is an option, as he did bring his treasured Masters Green Jacket with him to Scotland this week, and it might provide some comfort after Scott led the Open Championship in the final round this afternoon for the second consecutive year, before dropping four shots down the closing stretch to finish in a tie for third.

At Muirfield this afternoon, Scott, the reigning Masters champion, held the outright lead of the 2013 Open Championship with seven holes to play, after a string of four birdies in five holes around the turn saw him surge ahead of the field.

But then after Phil Mickelson had birdied four of the last six holes to complete what the American described as "the greatest round of my career", Scott did the opposite, losing his touch on the treacherous greens to bogey four of the last six. The Australian ultimately finished four shots behind Mickelson.

It was not a finishing line stumble nearly as dramatic as Scott's Lytham heartbreak in the 2012 Open, but it is another major near miss, and it hurts.

"I let a great chance slip during the middle of the round and that's disappointing," said Scott, who turned 33 this week, after his round. "I'm happy I at least gave myself a chance to win, and my game is in great shape, but I didn't get the number that Phil finished on, and I was right there on the back nine."

While Mickelson shot 66 today, five under par, to finish on 281 for the championship, Scott posted a final round of 72.

"We know that Phil goes for broke," adds Scott, "and he's got the ability to pull it off. He's won the Open, so every credit to him."

For Scott, the world number four coming into the Open, he will take a fortnight off before returning to the United States for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, which he won in 2011, and the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

Robin Barwick travelled to Muirfield with Mercedes-Benz, Official Patron of the Open Championship. Mercedes-Benz - dedicated to the perfect drive