But Faldo, 45, was keen to see the positive side of his performance – as well as that of a whole host of British players at the right end of the leaderboard.

Faldo tied for second with Australian Peter Lonard and two strokes behind in a tie for fourth were Scotsman Stephen Gallacher and Englishmen Paul Casey, David Lynn and Gary Evans.

That went down well with Faldo, who has a vested interest in the development of home-grown star with his Faldo Junior Series.

“The best bit for me is that I hung in there and stayed there for the first time in a long time. That did me the world of good. It was a nice feeling to be in there again,” said.

“British golf has really come on in the last four or five years. I just hope they still remember the old Faldo as well,” he said.

Els admitted he had been surprised to come out on top after struggling in the early part of the event.

He said: “I played with Peter Lonard the first two days. If you asked him if he ever thought I was going to win the tournament after playing with me, I am sure he would have said: ‘No way’.

“I was out of sorts with my game and my rhythm was all over the place. It wasn’t a great feeling,” said the Open champion.

“To get it all back on Saturday gave me a sense of excitement, I felt I had a chance. I felt good and excited about today.”