In the elevated quality of the twosome, Stenson became the first Swedish male major champion through near-spotless golf, with a whopping 10 birdies to offset two three-putt bogeys from outer edges of greens.
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On Thursday he was left cursing when a birdie putt at the 18th lipped out, denying him the first ever 62 in a major, and he was also agonisingly denied lifting the Claret Jug for the second time by Stenson’s brilliance.
Mickelson shot 65 for a 267 total.
Stenson’s first major title at the 42nd attempt came after two other thirds in the Open in 2008 and 2010. After a memorable final round where the pair traded birdies all day, Stenson emerged triumphant in record-setting fashion to win his first major. His 20-under score of 264 set a new major scoring record and tied Jason Day’s record score to par. In the end, on this day, Henrik Stenson was just a little bit grittier than Phil Mickelson.
But this was all about Stenson and Mickelson, two powerful players with different styles and different credentials, mainly the number of majors – five for Mickelson, none for Stenson. “It would great to hand one back to him”.
The American made up for that with his first eagle of the week at the fourth, Stenson making it three gains in a row to square things up before they shared a par and a birdie each on the fifth and sixth respectively. “I know he never backs down and he’s one of the best players to play the game”.
Southgate had a 1-under 283 total and will earn an exemption into next year’s British Open at Birkdale. “I’m just going to try my hardest to keep him behind”. I went to go get it.
Stenson, after dropping a shot on 11, pulled away with birdies on No. 14, 15 and 16, before clinching the tournament with a birdie on No. 18. Stenson finished second at Muirfield in 2013, which was tied for the best finish by a Swede along with Jesper Parnevik and Niclas Fasth, who also finished second at a British Open. The wind has died down, and the sun even broke through a clouds a few times Sunday. The lead changed four times over four hours of golf at its highest level, played in the cold wind and occasional rain off the Irish Sea.
Maybe Hollywood needed the footage for whenever they decide to make Phil The Thrill, starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Quentin Tarantino.
The R&A’s director of rules Grant Moir told Sky Sports: “We’ve moved one hole position on the third to give more green to work with”.
No one else is even close. J.B. Holmes is holding down third place, a staggering nine shots off Stenson’s 16-under at the top of the leaderboard.
“The Railway” hole can prove to be a card-wrecker at Royal Troon.
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He made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole for a two-shot lead. Then he staggered Mickelson’s heart with a 45-footer for birdie on the next hole to go up by 2.
