By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

Open championship chief Peter Dawson praised England's Gary Evans for giving millions of golfers the dream that they can one day win the biggest title in the game.

Evans did not triumph at Muirfield yesterday - Ernie Els did - but the fact that he nearly did brought him a glowing tribute.

Dawson, secretary of the Royal and Ancient Club, said: "Gary Evans' performance keeps the dream alive that you can come through and win.

"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."

Evans, without a European Tour victory in 275 starts, had a magical eight birdies in the first 11 holes to lead.

He was still in front when his second shot to the long 17th was lost in thick rough, despite about 200 fans helping him to search for it.

However, the 33-year-old then made an inspired and dramatic 50-foot putt for par, but bogeyed the last and finished one stroke behind Els and the three players the South African beat in the play-off - France's Thomas Levet and Australians Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby.

For all the romance of an Evans win, the victory of Els maintained Muirfield's tradition for bringing the cream to the top.

Yet world number one Tiger Woods was only 28th after a Saturday 81 which was the worst round of his professional career.

"Golf is such that the best players don't win all the time," added Dawson.

"Tiger is a phenomenon, but this just goes to show how difficult the Grand Slam is to do.

"In Ernie Els we have a champion who has been one of the best players in the world for a long, long time.

"We are delighted that he has at last won the Open after one or two occasions in the past when he might have done so.

"He is very likeable, quite delightful and I think he will be a great ambassador. We are delighted he has won."

David Pepper, chairman of the championship committee, stated: "I feel we have had a wonderful championship. We had all four seasons and all the competitors had a chance to play in adverse conditions as well as friendly conditions.

"I think Muirfield stood up to the test quite admirably. We didn't have to lengthen it to any extent (only two pars threes were stretched) and the extremely subtle greens and the wind when it blows does the rest."

Asked if the success of the Open proved courses did not need to get longer and longer, Pepper said: "I think to a certain extent yes.

"I don't think we 'Tiger-proofed' the course in the slightest. He could well have won.

"It did surprise me on the first two days that the leading scores were not better. Nobody seemed to jump out."

Six under won compared to the 12 under of Nick Faldo on the course 10 years ago. Faldo opened 66-64 then, a record for any Major which still stands.

The crowd for the week was 161,000, 11,000 up on the last Muirfield Open. Given Saturday's bad weather, officials were happy with that.

Dawson also had words of praise for the fans. There was no stampede down the final fairway this time, a problem addressed with a new double barrier system.

"The 18th was played three times because of the play-off, but the result had still to be determined and, understanding the game as they do, the crowd was less likely to charge."

Club officials from Royal St George's in Kent, where the championship takes place next June, were in attendance and will be hoping they can be as successful both in crowd control and security measures.

The only person who seemed to have a problem was Woods. He forgot his credentials on Tuesday and found his way to the practice range blocked by a lady security guard who did not know who he was.

Perhaps finding somebody to whom he was not special so deflated the Masters and US Open champion that he never recovered!