Stenson played Sunday in otherworldly fashion and equaled Mickelson’s first day score; he finished at -20 under and Mickelson at -17 under.
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And it smashed the previous Open record of 267 recorded by Greg Norman, who fired a final-round 64 to win his second Claret Jug at Royal St George’s in 1993. He finished third, 14 shots behind.
The final round was a two-horse race between Mickelson and Stenson from the beginning, but the two leaders put even more distance between themselves and the rest of the pack quickly.
Both players birdied 6, and then Stenson birdied the “Postage Stamp” eighth hole while Mickelson missed an 8-foot birdie there.
Even with a couple of three-putt bogeys and a 5-foot birdie attempt that slid by the cup at 17, Stenson became only the second player to close with a 63 in the final round of a major.
The pair finally exchanged pars at the fifth and both made well-crafted birdies at the long sixth, and after the seventh was halved in par, Stenson edged back in front at the Postage Stamp – backing up a wedge to 12 feet with a flawless putt.
But the intimidating 11th claimed its final victim of the week when Stenson three-putted from the fringe, although he looked set to be gifted back the outright lead when Mickelson got into bother for the second day running after a wayward drive at 12 only to emulate his third-round escape act when he sank a 15-foot putt to salvage a par.
Mickelson said it was the best golf he ever played without winning.
His outrageous birdie putt of roughly a mile, from the right fringe of the No. 15 green, gave him a two-shot lead and a clear advantage.
“But there will be some point when I’ll struggle to make it up the stairs when I get back to the house”, Stenson said after four hours of an epic battle between two 40-somethings at Royal Troon.
Stenson nearly found one of the deep fairway traps with his final tee shot, but his ball pulled up a few feet short of the trap and he took advantage with another precise blow to the heart of the green.
They walked off the 18th green together, arms wrapped around each other, forever linked by one of golf’s greatest duels. “He’s really a great champion”, Mickelson went on. “I got beat by 10 birdies”. Lefty shot a bogey-free 65, good enough to win on just about any Sunday but this one, another runner-up finish in a major providing little consolation. Stenson said Parnevik send him a message that said, “Go out and finish what I didn’t manage to finish”. “I’ve always been of the thought that it’s better to be one ahead than one behind, because that means Phil’s got to play better than I do”. He wound up with so much more Sunday. He also ended a streak of six American winners at Royal Troon that dated to 1950.
In the brief speech he gave after being introduced as Champion Golfer of the Year, he referenced his friend Mike Gerbich, who had passed away before the start of the first round.
“I’m really proud to have done that, and it’s going to be massive for golf in Sweden with this win”, Stenson said.
It certainly looks like Henrik Stenson has had a pretty good year on the golf course, but it was topped off by the biggest win of his career.
Spieth hopes to build on that momentum at the PGA Championship in two weeks.
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In conditions that were tough and windy early, but turned benign and sunny on the back nine, Stenson and Mickelson laughingly lapped the field. He wishes that was the norm in golf, instead of players routinely taking four hours or more.
