Henrik Stenson Sees Off Phil Mickelson to Win British Open

Even when you play your best.

Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson revived memories of the famous “Duel in the Sun” as they turned the Open Championship into a stunning private duel at Royal Troon. “It seemed like it was going to be a two-horse race, and it was all the way to the end”.

Stenson shot an 8-under 63 on Sunday to beat Phil Mickelson by three strokes, becoming the first man from Sweden to win one of golf’s biggest events.

Whether or not he looks back on it with fondness or as the one that got away, he was not sure. “I still hit a good shot to advance it down the fairway like I did, and found a way to get up and down”. “I got beat by 10 birdies”. After two days of cold, rain and gusty winds, there was some blue sky, sun and bursts of wind. He also would be the third-oldest major champion behind Julius Boros (48) and Morris, with whom Mickelson shares a birthday – June 16, albeit 149 years apart. The distance between Mickelson and third-place finisher J.B. Holmes was 11 shots and the largest in Open history.

“I felt that this was going to be my time”, he said.

“That’s what I’m most excited about this week, is how I feel”, he said, after finishing equal 22nd with Westwood, among others, on one-over 285.

Stenson’s victory makes him the oldest player to grab his first major since Darren Clarke won at 42 in 2011, and it means four of the last six British Open winners were 40 or older, with Stenson (2016), Mickelson (2013), Ernie Els (2012) and Clarke (2011).

They matched birdies and improbable par saves.

Stenson and Mickelson were never separated by more than two shots over 40 straight holes until the Swede’s final birdie.

Mickelson’s last gasp came at the par-5 16th, where a 30-foot eagle try brushed the left side of the cup and stopped, but didn’t drop in.

Then, at No. 3, Stenson made an 18-foot birdie putt to push his score to 13 under. This is the first time he’s ever taken a lead into the final round of a major. I knew that he would ultimately come through and win.

“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I’m very happy. I’m disappointed that it was at my expense”.

Records didn’t matter. This was about winning his first major. “I put in my best performance today”. He wishes that was the norm in golf, instead of players routinely taking four hours or more. The PGA Championship starts a week from Thursday.

By early in Sunday’s round, he said “it was pretty obvious that it was just us”. “I’m excited where my game is at and where it’s headed”.