Phil Mickelson joked Thursday that the golf gods had kept him from being the only player to shoot a 62 in a major championship, his bid on the final hole at Royal Troon in the 145th British Open somehow staying out of the hole and setting up camp on the lip of the cup.
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Stenson shot eight under on the day, finishing at minus 20 – beating Tiger Woods’ previous score for the lowest score relative to par at The Open. Stenson bounced back with three consecutive birdies and Mickelson’s eagle on the fourth, when he knocked a 4-iron from 237 yards to 8 feet, only got him a share of the lead. Meanwhile, Mickelson made an eagle, two birdies and no bogeys. “That’s probably why it’s disappointing in that I don’t have a point where I can look back and say, “I should have done that” or ‘Had I only done this.’ I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a major”.
The 40-year-old Stenson’s round equalled the lowest in any major championship and his winning total also represented a new British Open record.
As one half of golf’s greatest ever skirmish – the Duel in Sun with Tom Watson at Turnberry in 1977 – Nicklaus knows what it’s like to be involved in the furious cut and thrust and the Golden Bear believes Sunday’s showdown trumps the lot. (I’m) happy for Henrik.
“He was one of the real good guys”, said the 40-year-old Swede. The margin has never been more than one stroke, and they’ve been tied much of the way. “It’s going to be quite an experience, I think”, he said last week. “So I just tried to do the same, and just delighted to come out on top and managed to win this trophy”.
Mickelson was a runner-up for the 11th time in a major, but never like this.
“And I’m really proud to have done that”, said Stenson, glancing over at the Claret Jug, emblematic of being Champion Golfer of the Year.
But then Stenson landed a significant blow when he drained a long one across the green on the 14th and he dropped another bomb out of nowhere on 15 to rock his rival.
To win your first major championship is something special in and of itself, but to do it in the fashion Henrik did it in, makes for something very special and incredibly memorable.
Mickelson’s 65, on another day, would have been one of the greatest rounds ever to win an Open. Usually, that’s good enough to do it, and I got beat. No more than one shot separated the leaders until the 15 hole, when Stenson rolled in a 45-foot birdie to lead by two.
American J.B. Holmes was a distant third on six-under 278, but the other scores were just a detail.
Mickelson had the edge, putting his approach on the green, about 30 feet from the flag. Mickelson made a brilliant up-and-down after missing the green with his approach, almost holing out a chip over a bunker. To shoot six under par is what Mickelson did, he had a chance to win. That run ended Sunday, when he shot a 3-under 68 in the final round at Royal Troon. Playing with a marker in the first group, he shot 76 on Sunday and finished at 17-over 301 for the tournament. Beyond the score, the measure of his performance was that he putted for a birdie on every hole Sunday in a mild wind off the Irish Sea. “He’s such a good player he’s got the short game only matched by a few – Seve Ballesteros comes to mind”.
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After so much of the pre-tournament talk centred on the so-called big four, all with wins at one of the sport’s top four events to their names and boasting an average age of 27, Troon crowned a first-time major victor at the ripe age of 40. Even when you play your best.
