The victor of the Open Championship gets his name inscribed on the old and famous Claret Jug, but you can bet that as they fly away from Scotland on their private jets, the golfers will also consider the monetary reward.
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Accepting the claret jug, Stenson dedicated his first major win to a friend of his who died of cancer on Wednesday.
Mickelson had led at the halfway stage and still shot a one-under-par 70 on Saturday to sit at 11-under. This head-to-head matchup will surely be remembered alongside the “Duel in the Sun” at Turnberry between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in 1977.
Mickelson shot 65 for a 267 total.
“I’m really proud to have done that, and it’s going to be massive for golf in Sweden with this win”, Stenson said.
Stenson and Mickelson were never separated by more than two shots over 40 consecutive holes until the Swede’s final birdie. His 10th birdie of the round gave him an 8-under 63 to match Johnny Miller for the lowest closing round by a major champion. Stenson also tied the record for the lowest score on the final day of a major.
Henrik Stenson has reclaimed the upper hand in his epic British Open duel with Phil Mickelson.
“I don’t think that did anything to it”, Spieth said after a disappointing 72 left him five over par. “I know I’m going to get hit but I am going to hit just as hard back”. But on this Sunday, it was Stenson’s time.
– He would become the sixth player from Continental Europe to win a major.
No one else is even close. First place – or “the champion golfer” in Brit speak – at The Open gets a check for $1.544 million, with the runner-up having to settle for $886,798.
Trading birdies and making few mistakes, the two were tied through the 13th hole, and then Stenson generated two enormous roars from the huge galleries. On the tournament’s 72nd and final hole, Stenson did what he did with machine-like consistency all week. He holed a lengthy birdie putt to take the lead for good. Mickelson began the week at Royal Troon with a 63, and Stenson finished what Lefty started.
Stenson was up by two. No one else is within six shots of the lead.
“How are you, Henrik?”
He added the gloss in front of the packed grandstands with a 10th birdie to cap one of the most remarkable days of major championship golf.
– The major victory would come in his 12th appearance in The Open Championship. “He was a keen golfer, Mike this one is for you”.
Even in tough conditions, Montgomerie breezed through the final round in less than three hours.
On another cool, rainy day at Royal Troon, it looks like a two-man showdown. Instead, his ball came up 15 inches short, and Stenson knocked his ball to 20 feet on the 18th green, where he dropped in his putt for history.
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England’s Andrew Johnston was at six-under overall at the turn. No one has done it on the men’s side. This time, it was a birdie that clinched his first major and made a little bit of history along the way. This second-place finish is the 11th time Mickelson has finish second in a major and the second time at a British Open.
