Why cry over spilled milk? Despite being torn asunder by the infamous Road Hole on the Old Course at St Andrews, the toughest par four to be found in any major championship, Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley were philosophical about the 17th hole that has produced its fair share of victims down the years.

On Saturday, McDowell ran up a quadruple-bogey eight there, taking three to extricate himself from the greenside bunker and compounding his misery by three-putting; and, yesterday, for the third day running, McGinley suffered a double-bogey on his way to a 69 for 287. All in all, a costly old hole for the pair.

Yet, McDowell, especially, could look on the bright side as he achieved a career-best finish of tied-11th in a major. He also collected €97,193 for his efforts.

Yesterday the northerner rebounded with a 67 for six-under-par 282 to catapult himself up the leaderboard, and it was all a contrast to how he felt on Saturday evening when he returned to his hotel room.

"That eight (on Saturday) was painful for a couple of hours, it was hurting me and it took a while for me to let it go. But that 67 today really helped me forget about it. You can't do ifs and buts. If I hadn't made eight (on 17) would I have come out and shot 67 today? Who knows? I'm just happy that I stayed positive after what happened and I came out and played good golf."

In fact, he played some of the best golf of the day, particularly on the back nine, which he covered in 31 strokes. As if to confirm that the gods pay back, McDowell had a touch of good fortune on the 17th.

After hitting what he termed a "ropy" two-iron off the tee into the left rough, he turned over his five-iron approach. It caught the lip of the bunker, but skipped on to the green rather than into the sand.

"I feel as if a lot of justice was done there, on the 17th, I have to say. I felt like I paid my penance and got away with one today," he remarked of a hole he described as "probably the most intimidating in golf, especially with the ground so firm".

All in all, though, it was a good day's work that reaped most dividends on the homeward run, where he produced five birdies, including a hat-trick from the 12th.

Unfortunately for McDowell, because of a change in the rules, his tied-11th finish was just one spot outside automatic exemption in to next year's British Open.

McDowell, who plays in this week's TPC of Europe in Germany, added: "I'm happy with my performance in general. I know I'm playing well and I'm just waiting for that week when I can string together four rounds of golf, and it's going to happen soon.

"I'm just excited about the next couple of months. I feel as though I've made some breakthroughs in my golf swing and I know exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm back to hitting it the way I need to hit it, I'm driving the ball better, I know I can hole putts and my short game's been a lot better."

In some contrast, McGinley's relationship with the 17th continued to be a bad one. "I was just damn unlucky, all three times, just lady luck running against me," he said of the sequence of double-bogeys.

Yesterday's was particularly horrendous. Five-under on his card, he ran in a low chaser that finished up against the face and had to play out backwards.

"Overall, it's been a disappointing week. I just haven't had the buzz of playing in a major championship. I was playing in front of empty grandstands most of the way round. I had the chance to play on a big stage and I didn't take it. I can't beat about the bush. I've played poorly since the BMW (at Wentworth in May). There's peaks and troughs in a season and I am definitely in a trough at the moment," said McGinley, who won €21,807.

Darren Clarke had another frustrating day, carding seven straight pars before he dropped a shot at the par-three eighth, only to claim it back immediately at the next to get back to six under by the turn.

Four holes in regulation were then followed by a bogey at the 618-yard 14th to drop the Ulsterman back to five under.

He parred his way home, missing a three-foot putt on the last for birdie, for a round of 73 and a tournament score of five under, which earned him €67,394.