Gullane, Scotland ? Gary Evans has lost hundreds of golf balls in his life. Never has one meant so much as the ball that disappeared Sunday in the wilds off the 17th fairway in the British Open.

It ended up winning him the hearts of British fans. It also cost him a chance to win the Open.

In a surreal scene that played out on the Muirfield links, Evans was the unlikely Open leader before a wayward 4-wood second shot on the par-5 went into the crowd left of the fairway and disappeared under the trampled rough.

How he would go on to make an incredible par will become a part of Open lore.

But for the moment all Evans could think of was how his biggest chance to do something in a career that had been mediocre at best was gone.

“As soon as I lost the ball, all of a sudden a dark cloud descended,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh God, please, not now.'”

Dozens of fans joined the English journeyman as he and his caddie searched a small area for the ball. Somehow, it had disappeared despite landing in the middle of an area where quite a few spectators had gathered.

“Come on. Look down, not at me,” he said, imploring the crowd to find the ball.

They found one, then another. Neither were his. Then someone found a Titleist 2, the same brand and number Evans had hit in there.

It wasn’t his, either.

By then, the rules official was telling Evans his time was up. It would be a lonely walk back down the fairway to hit another.

Evans headed back down the fairway to where he had hit the shot that got him in trouble. He pulled out the same 4-wood, but this time he struck it pure and the ball flew 230 yards toward the green, finishing up some 50 feet left of the hole.

With the penalty, Evans was on the green in four, putting for par.

“My heart, I cannot tell you how my heart was bumping,” he said. “It was just frightening.”

As the ball went in, Evans pumped his fist in exhilaration, gave a high five to playing partner Scott Verplank and slapped his caddie on his behind. Then he went over to a television camera, gave a thumbs up and said: “That was for you, mum.”