Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (left) hugs USA’s Phil Mickelsonas he celebrates winning the Open Championship during day four of The Open Championship 2016 at Royal Troon Golf Club, South Ayrshire.
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He became only the second man to shoot 63 in the final round of a major, matching the feat of eventual victor Johnny Miller at the 1973 US Open at Oakmont, and his 72-hole total of 264 also beat the best in any major set by David Toms in the 2001 US PGA and was three lower than the previous Open record set by Greg Norman at Sandwich in 1993. “What a great match”. “I knew I had to keep on pushing”. Watson prevailed by a shot over Nicklaus and 11 over third-place Hubert Green.
“It’s probably the best I’ve played and not won”.
He had previously endured seven top-four finishes in majors and was the runner-up to Mickelson in the British Open at Muirfield in 2013.
“My previous record in majors is not something you want to keep on hearing, but I just felt like this was going to be my turn”, added the man from Gothenburg, who now lives in Florida.
“Wow, this will take a little while to sink in”, said Stenson as he held aloft the coveted Claret Jug. “I’m happy for Henrik”, said the 46-year-old. Henrik’s a really great champion.
It took Mickelson 47 major championships before he finally broke through to win one.
“I knew that he would ultimately come through and win and I’m happy that he did. I am disappointed that it was at my expense”.
“It’s probably the best I’ve played and not won”.
The match is being compared to the 1977 Open Championship showdown of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson at Turnberry, dubbed “The Duel in the Sun”. Those two just blew the field away, there was no one else in it. I don’t look back on anything and say, ‘I should have done this differently or that.’ I played well enough to win this championship by a number of strokes, and I get beat by three strokes.
But it was Stenson, a five-time victor as a part-time player on the PGA Tour, who held the claret jug and told Mickelson at the closing ceremony, “Thank you very much for a great fight”.
Stenson appeared to be showing signs of nerves when he bogeyed the first, but he recovered from that to produce a scarcely credible 10 birdies over the afternoon, rendering his dropped shot at the par-four 11th meaningless.
Stenson, full of adrenaline on the 18th tee, hammered his tee shot 310 yards down the fairway and was mightily relieved to see it stop 12 inches short of one of Royal Troon’s fiendish pot bunkers.
Stenson, who came into the week as the sixth-ranked player in the world, finished at 20-under 264, the lowest 72-hole score ever in a major. Already a Players Championship victor and major championship contender and top-five player in the world, he ultimately sank to 230th at his lowest point. “I’m really proud to have done that and it’s going to be really big for golf in Sweden”. He finished third, 14 shots behind.
Stenson started the final round with a one-shot lead over Mickelson, and knew it would be a two-man race from the opening hole when Mickelson almost holed out from the fairway.
Bidding to become the oldest Open victor since Old Tom Morris in 1867, Mickelson was gallant with a flawless 65 featuring four birdies and an eagle- but still unable to land a fairytale sixth career major at 46.
Meanwhile, Mickelson just failed to convert an eagle putt at 16, effectively killing his chances.
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“But I really feel good now”. Over those 36 holes, they were tied after 15, Stenson led after 13 of them and Mickelson led after eight of them. Stenson three-putted for bogey from just off the first green, and he three-putted on No. 10 to fall back into a tie for the lead.
