Phil Mickelson congratulates Henrik Stenson on winning The Open at Royal Troon
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 18/07/16 10:07am
Stenson and Mickelson produced some of the most memorable head-to-head golf in recent memory on Sunday, lighting up the Ayrshire coast and turning the tournament into a two-horse race.
Mickelson's closing total of 17 under would have won an incredible 140 of the previous 144 editions of the championship but when Stenson rolled in yet another putt on the 72nd green he had secured his first major title by what seemed like a comfortable three strokes.
The American's final round of 65 was the second-best score on Sunday but the man who eclipsed it just happened to be his chief rival and playing partner.
Mickelson said: "It's disappointing to come in second, but I'm happy for Henrik. He's really a great champion. We've been friends for some time.
"I've always thought that he is one of the best ball-strikers in the game and that major championships are perfectly suited for him. I knew that he would ultimately come through and win. I'm happy that he did. I'm disappointed that it was at my expense.
"I don't remember being in a match like that where we've separated ourselves from the field by so many strokes. I don't think that's happened that I can remember.
"It's probably the best I've played and not won. I think that's probably why it's disappointing in that I don't have a point where I can look back and say, I should have done that or had I only done this.
"I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a major, usually that's good enough to do it, and I got beat. I got beat by 10 birdies. It's not like other guys were out there doing the same thing. It was a challenging day.
"After six holes, it was pretty obvious it was going to be just us. It was fun to be part of that challenge. It's just disappointing for me to finish second, but we've got a great champ. Henrik's a really great champion. I'm happy for him.
"I played what I feel was well enough to win this championship by a number of strokes and yet I got beat by three strokes. You know, it's not like I have decades left of opportunities to win majors, so each one means a lot to me. And I put in my best performance today. Played close to flawless golf and was beat."
The scoring at Royal Troon, at least among Stenson and Mickelson, was in stark contrast to last month's US Open at Oakmont, where Dustin Johnson won with a four-under total and only four players broke par.
And Mickelson gave a clear indication that he preferred this week's set-up over that produced by the USGA, which led to plenty of talk of conditions being made simply too hard.
He added: "I think that R&A sets the golf course up to be as fair as possible and to try to kind of identify who the best player is regardless of what the score is given the conditions and so forth. Sometimes it's 20-under. Sometimes people don't want that many under par.
"But the fact is if somebody plays some incredible golf, that's what it should do. You shouldn't have to mess with the course too much to try to control the score.
"The USGA has it in their mind that the score needs to be par, so no matter what lines they have to cross to get there, that's got to be the standard, and it kind of disregards and doesn't take into account the difference in talent level and abilities that the players of today now have.
"I prefer this one. I think that it's much more fair. I think we all enjoy it. But I'm also biased because I've won this one and I haven't won the other one, so I've got that working against me."
