By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer

Nick Faldo left Kent on Sunday evening to concentrate on the birth of his new baby.

But not before he had delivered another emotional chapter in the amazing story of Britain's best-ever golfer and vowed to give the big-time "one more blast".

No, he didn't manage to become the oldest winner of the Open championship since Tom Morris Snr at Prestwick back in 1867, a player who was 97 days older than Faldo, who celebrated his 46th birthday on Friday.

But for the second day running he gave us the most stirring of flashbacks to the years when he stashed away six major championships - three Opens and three US Masters - in a final round when the fans around Royal St George's attempted to carry him to a seventh on a carpet of noise.

Ultimately age and a touch of mental weariness caught up with him with three successive bogeys over the final holes. But, as he walked up the 18th fairway to record a one-under-par 70 to end the tournament on a creditable three over par, he raised the arm of popular caddie Fanny Sunesson in a boxer's victory salute, the scoreboard flashed 'Faldo for King' - and the resulting roar could have launched a space rocket.

Faldo then immediately announced he was going to give his career "everything", including a schedule to give him the best possible chance of qualifying for next year's Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, Michigan.

"My big goal now is to really work on my stamina," said Faldo. "At my age it affects me and I slowed up a bit. When I looked and saw the leader was five under that got me down and I switched off and thought I was just playing for position. And I finished badly.

"Now I'm going to gear myself up for September to get as many points as I can for the Ryder Cup. I'm going to do everything I can with my schedule and fitness. I'm going to give it one real good blast and see what happens. I've got to tell myself I can still do it."

Faldo had begun the day at four over par after a third round 67 on Saturday, the perfection of which had set the standard for this most unpredictable of tournaments.

It had given him the record for Royal St George's lengthened course. He already held the record for the old course - having shot a brilliant 63 in the second round of the 1993 championship when he was beaten into second place only by one of the most astonishing final rounds of 64 by Greg Norman. Last night he had attempted to play down his chances with the tightest of leaderboards ahead of him meaning he was always flying in the face of fate.

But when he birdied the 420-yard par-four fifth and then slid home a 35-foot putt for eagle at the par-five seventh we began to wonder. So diDd he, it seemed, as he threw a mighty right hook to the heavens as if to say 'I'm in there punching my weight'.

The eighth brought an untidy bogey but he still turned two under par for the day and with the momentum still full of plenty of fizz.

By the 14th he had garnered two more birdies to take him to even par for the championship and into fourth place on a leaderboard which was fluctuating by the minute. Fourth place - the last time he had been in such a position so deep into a major tournament was in the 1996 Open, the year of his third and final US Masters triumph.

Perhaps the intoxicating feeling swirling around his head was conveyed to his tee shot because at the 15th his usually reliable driver deposited the ball in a fairway bunker, sparking a flurry of three successive bogeys, two with putts of no more than four feet, which finally killed his chance of potential glory.

"I shot six under for 42 holes here and that's as good as anybody," said Faldo. "My aim was to put my head down and just go and play. If I could make a good finish and sit in the clubhouse at two under you never know what might have happened.

"It wasn't to be but I've had 72 good walks this week and the last 36 in particular were very special."