The 138th Open, Turnberry
Date: 16-19 July
Coverage: Live TV coverage on BBC Two, Online and the Red Button, live on Radio 5 Live and text commentary online on all four days

By Ged Scott BBC Sport at Turnberry

Dougherty watches his drive off the second tee at Turnberry on day four

Lancashire's Nick Dougherty admitted he only had himself to blame for not making more of a final-day challenge at the 138th Open Championship.

Bootle-born Dougherty, from Chorley's Shaw Hill Golf Club, failed to spark as he hit a second successive 73.

"I needed to play great and I didn't," he told BBC Sport. "My goal was to give myself a chance to win and maybe make top 10.

"I knew what I had to do but I just did not play well enough to achieve it."

Dougherty's round got off to the worst possible start when he missed a short putt for par at the 1st, and he then dropped another at the 474-yard 5th.

If I could have shot four under and got back to one under, I might have had a chance of winning Nick Dougherty

"It's a really hard hole," he said. "I missed the green then my pitch got a hard bounce."

Two more shots went at 12 and 14, where he missed a four-footer, before he birdied the short 15th to match Saturday's 73.

"I needed to play awesome and it didn't happen," he added.

"Looking at it now, if I could have shot four under and got back to one under, I might have had a chance of winning. But I missed that tiddler on the 1st and the rest is history."

Dougherty also blames himself for fulfilling too busy a scheduled in the three weeks since enjoying the biggest win of his career at the BMW International Open in Munich.

He played the French Open and in last week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, and admitted: "My man management's not been great.

"I shouldn't have played the two weeks after Munich but you learn from your mistakes."

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