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HOYLAKE, England, July 23 (Reuters) - South African amateur Christo Lamprecht ended a rollercoaster British Open on 11 over par on Sunday, 16 shots behind where he was after a brilliant opening 66 but all the better for the experience.
The towering 22-year-old was joint leader of the tournament after plundering seven birdies at a sun-kissed Hoylake on Thursday before rounds of 79, 76 and 74 sent him tumbling down the field.
He will have the consolation of winning the silver medal as leading amateur as well as learning valuable lessons.
"It's been a week with every bit of emotion felt, kind of coming off a high on Thursday and just not having it the last three days," Lamprecht told reporters.
"I felt like kind of in control of the golf ball not nearly as well as I wanted to. It was a little bit disappointing, but obviously standing here being the last amateur standing and getting the silver medal, it puts a smile back on my face."
Lamprecht played the first round alongside his mentor Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion who has worked with his compatriot since he was a teenager through his golf foundation.
Lamprecht's playing partner on Sunday was England's former Masters champion Danny Willett.
"Danny is a really funny guy. I had a blast with him out there today," Lamprecht said.
"The way they (the top players) manage themselves on the golf course and how smart they play. I just think there's a lot of consistency and that was definitely lacking for me this week. It was kind of all over the place swing-wise."
Lamprecht believes he has the game to challenge the top players.
"It's nice to know that my good golf is good enough to compete with anyone in the world," he said.
"That's something really nice to take away from this week and motivates me to keep on playing better golf and keep on practising."
