Jack Nicklaus says Henrik Stenson vs. Phil Mickelson better than 1977 ‘Duel’

In his mind, those were U.S. Open titles he frittered away. His final score of 264 broke the record for overall low score in any major championship.

The 40-year-old Stenson started walking when the putt was halfway there, stopping to pump his fist, rare emotion for the Swede with ice-blue eyes.

Maybe he won’t, and he is 0 for his last 63 tournaments, but if he couldn’t win after shooting a 63 and 65 in the same week, well, when can he?

Stenson became the fourth successive first-time victor of a major, following in the footsteps of Jason Day, Danny Willett and Dustin Johnson.

Mickelson was aware of the parallels with one of the game’s classics. I just played some great golf. I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a Major. This game has given me so much over the years – all the memories, seen the world, playing with some of the best players in the world, competing against them. “Played close to flawless golf and was beat”.

Stenson recovered from dropping a shot at the par-four first by recording five birdies before the turn and also recording a birdie at the 10th. Stenson hit his approach on the par-5 fourth hole onto the green for a two-putt birdie. “And I got beat”, Mickelson said to the press after the round. And it just snuck by and I’m standing over a five-footer down the hill to keep it to a head.

Stenson, 40 and ranked No. 6 in the world, became the first Scandinavian player to win a major because he enjoyed the usual precision with his irons while finding a putting prowess he’d never quite displayed like this before.

“Henrik showed tremendous resolve and self belief”.

“You know he’s not going to back down and he’s going to try to make birdies on every hole”, Stenson said. “I’ll look back and say to myself, ‘What do I need to do?'”. What is different about the two is that Stenson was going head-to-head with Mickelson for the title nearly in a matchplay situation, whereas Miller was coming from the pack and arguably playing like he had nothing to lose.

American JB Holmes finished a distant third, 11 strokes adrift of five-times major victor Mickelson.

“I was thinking about that”, Mickelson said with a slight smile.

“I know that I wanted to be more of Tom in that case than Jack, but unfortunately (not)”. Stenson finished the third round at 12-under and Mickelson was chomping at his heels at 11-under.

Tony Jacklin of England (L) poses with compatriot Nick Faldo (2nd L), John Daly of the US (2nd R) and his compatriot Tom Lehman as they stand on the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole during the Champion Golfers’ Challenge tournament ahead of the British Open golf championship on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, July 15, 2015.