Tanihara, playing in his second British Open, closed with a 1-under 71 and tied for fifth with Sergio Garcia at 11-under 277, seven shots behind Tiger Woods. The top four and ties from the British Open are exempt to the Masters.

"It's kind of bittersweet," he said. "I felt I left a few shots out there today, but on the other hand it is a great finish."

The one consolation? He won't have to qualify for the British Open next year because the top 10 automatically return.

"This is by far my best achievement," Tanihara said. "I never expected to be in the top 10, but I did expect to play well this week."

Tanihara has played on the Japanese Tour for the last five years, where he has won three times, including once this year. In his last Open appearance in 2003, he missed the cut.

RAVE REVIEWS: Royal Liverpool hadn't been in the British Open rotation for 39 years. Based on how the players felt about it, the venerable club won't have to wait that long again.

"Hopefully the R&A will now put this course back on the rotation sooner rather than later," former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell said.

Tiger Woods called it a "fantastic test" that allowed for more creativity than usual for a British Open. It was a brown links course, courtesy of a hot, dry spell in England that turned the rough into wispy strands of grass.

Asked if the Open should return to Royal Liverpool, the champion replied, "Yes."

The last Open at Royal Liverpool was in 1967, but the course was dropped from the rotation because of logistical problems getting people to and from the course squeezed into a Liverpool suburb.

Those problems were largely overcome at this Open, with some 38,000 people a day attending, and players generally liked what they saw.

"It's a very good golf course, and it's right there in front of you," Thomas Bjorn said. "It's a good test and while it's not the longest the way it played, somehow it has still put up a good test."

Former champion David Duval also liked what he saw.

"It was as much about the links experience as any I've played, even St. Andrews," Duval said.

WEARING TWO HATS: Steve Lucas kept regular hours in the insurance business until he took on a part-time job as caddie for his son-in-law, Sean O'Hair. Lucas was a steadying influence for O'Hair, whose father used boot-camp tactics to train his son to play golf.

After a year on tour and a victory last year in the John Deere Classic, O'Hair decided to switch to a professional caddie.