This was heavyweight material, reminiscent of the “Duel in the Sun” just down the Ayrshire coastline at Turnberry in 1977, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus battled to the final hole, and no one else was closer than 10 shots.
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Mickelson shot a bogey-free, 6-under 65, and still finished three shots behind. Nicklaus finished 10 strokes ahead of Hubert Green, who famously quipped afterward: “I won the golf tournament”.
In his opening round at Royal Troon, Mickelson equalled the record for low round in a major championship, and came within a lipped-out birdie putt of setting a new record of 62. As exciting as that final round was, Nicklaus said on his Facebook page that the Mickelson-Stenson duel was even better.
“Henrik Stenson just played better – he played one of the greatest rounds I have ever seen”.
“Phil certainly has nothing to be ashamed of because he played wonderfully”, the three-time Open champion noted.
At the age of 40, Henrik Stenson is hoping his long-awaited first Major victory at the British Open proves to be just the beginning.
The 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry will forever be remembered as the “Duel in the Sun”. “We played some great golf and I’m delighted to come out on top”.
Stenson said: “He was one of the real good guys”.
Mickelson may have paid the best compliment by claiming that he had never played better without winning, saying: “It’s probably the best I’ve played and not won”.
Lord said that he lit a cigaratte midway through the final round at Royal Troon Sunday, and Stenson reminded him of the friendly wager. It also gave Stenson a major tournament record score of 264, 20-under-par, as he become the first male golfer from Sweden to win a major championship. Stenson said Parnevik send him a message that said, “Go out and finish what I didn’t manage to finish”.
Is it possible for the PGA Championship, to be played next week at Baltusrol, to be as lucky as the British Open was Sunday with its wall-to-wall drama?
One feels so happy for Stenson, who has been near the top for many years and come close to Majors on numerous occasions, but never quite crossed the line to take the Trophy.
His 20 under par total was the lowest Open Championship score in relation to par, eclipsing Tiger Woods’ 19-under-par record set at St Andrews in 2000.
Sure, Mickelson erred by trying to hit 3-iron around a tree at Winged Foot and making double bogey on the 18th hole in the 2006 U.S. Open.
The runner-up finish at Royal Troon was the 11th for Mickelson, one more than Arnold Palmer and still eight to go to catch Nicklaus.
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Mickelson had scored a 63 himself in the opening round on Thursday last week.
