Ernie Els won his second Claret Jug, one stroke ahead of runner-up Adam Scott.

Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker finished tied for third, four strokes behind Els, who gained his fourth major title.

When Scott agonizingly bogeyed each of the final four holes, he dropped to second and Els won the Championship by a single stroke.

[4] The 2012 event was the eleventh Open Championship to be played at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The previous one was in 2001, when David Duval won his only major championship, three strokes clear of runner-up Niclas Fasth.

First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied from #6, in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup points list of the 2012 PGA Tour on completion of the HP Byron Nelson Championship 18.

First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied (26) above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2012 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2012 Mizuno Open 28.

The Mark H. McCormack Medal winner for 2011 Twenty players were appearing in their first major championship: Nick Cullen, Alan Dunbar, Harris English, Yoshinori Fujimoto, Andrew Georgiou, Ashley Hall, John Huh, Kodai Ichihara, Ian Keenan, Jbe' Kruger, Anirban Lahiri, Morten Ørum Madsen, Garth Mulroy, Steven O'Hara, Juvic Pagunsan, Ted Potter Jr., Aaron Townsend, Manuel Trappel, Grant Veenstra, and Dale Whitnell.

A further 12 players were appearing in their first Open Championship: Matthew Baldwin, Keegan Bradley, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Justin Hicks, Troy Kelly, Troy Matteson, James Morrison, Scott Pinckney, Chez Reavie, Michael Thompson, Johnson Wagner, and Sam Walker.

Thursday, 19 July 2012 The weather conditions during the first day of the tournament turned out to be less harsh than expected, with very little wind and cloudy skies.

Adam Scott made eight birdies and only two bogeys en route to a 6-under-par 64, tying the course record.

[28] Friday, 20 July 2012 Some rain showers wet the course overnight and in the early morning hours, but the calm conditions continued into day two of the tournament.

Saturday, 21 July 2012 In the third round, leader Brandt Snedeker faltered by shooting a 73 (3-over-par) to move him down to a tie for second with Graeme McDowell, who rose up to second place with a score of 67 (3-under-par).

[4] Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker, and Tiger Woods entered the round within striking distance of Scott, but each faltered and sank out of contention.

[4] Snedeker double-bogeyed the seventh and eighth holes, leading to a final round score of 74 (4-over-par), in a tie for third with Woods.

[4] On the tournament's 72nd hole, Scott put his tee shot into a bunker and had to exit sideways to the fairway.