Something for everyone in absorbing tournament

A week ago major championships were a closed shop and the Open had been rechristened the "Closed Door Championship". Tiger Woods' Grand Slam hopes were blown away on Saturday and the dream of winning the silver claret jug was shown on Sunday to beat not just in the hearts of those élite players who expect to pick up such silverware.

Ernie Els almost lost because he wanted to win too much, but those he defeated over five play-off holes were not of the exalted status that means automatic entry to every major going. Steve Elkington used to enjoy that privilege as the 1995 USPGA champion, but his exemption had run out. None the less he entered Final Qualifying despite many European Tour players' cries that the number of places had been reduced so much the process was a lottery.

Elkington, playing at Dunbar, found himself in a three-way play-off for two places until news arrived that Paul Azinger had withdrawn and all three were given Open places. Thomas Levet earned his exemption by finishing 19th on the European Order of Merit last year. His best end-of-season ranking by 50 places was achieved with the help of a win at the British Masters when, ironically, he won a four-man play-off.

Stuart Appleby got in by finishing high up at the Western Open two weeks, a kind of Open qualifier for the US Tour. Then there was Gary Evans, now winless in 276 tournaments, who played well enough between the Volvo PGA and the Scottish Open to get one of the "current form" exemptions. Evans played the round of his life on Sunday and had the golfing world transfixed for over half an hour as he manufactured a par on the 17th after losing a ball and only dropped out of the lead with one of the most courageous bogeys at the last. Ultimately, he finished a stroke outside the play-off.

"His performance keeps the dream alive," said Peter Dawson, the secretary of the Royal and Ancient. "What he did on the 17th and 18th was one of the highlights of the championship. I saw him in the locker-room afterwards and he was in a terrible state. He was drained – absolutely spent. He had given everything he had. Most people would have taken eight on the 17th given what happened to him. But he didn't and it was wonderful."

Levet, who earned £286,666, rose to 14th on the European Order of Merit. Should he stay in the top 15 it will open the door to events such as the US Open next year. He was already changing his schedule to take in the USPGA at Hazeltine next month.

Els can fairly be said to have joined the pantheon of greats who have won on the Muirfield links. Without great extensions or rebuilding, and in calm weather for three days, the winning score of six under par was half that of Nick Faldo in 1992.

Dawson rejected suggestions that because the players largely rejected their drivers, due to the wicked rough, they were not tested as widely as had been hoped. "The players I spoke to thought they had been tested thoroughly, particularly in their patience and tenacity," he said. "A player who came through adversity won the championship."

It was an Open with something for everyone, including record Japanese television ratings in the middle of the night as Shigeki Maruyama threatened to win his country's first major.