The 145th Open: Henrik Stenson ready for final-round showdown
By Sam Drury
Last Updated: 17/07/16 6:20pm
Henrik Stenson insists he is ready for the challenge of going head-to-head with Phil Mickelson as he goes in search of his first major title on Open Sunday.
The 40-year-old Swede leads Mickelson by a solitary shot heading into the final round at Royal Troon after shooting an impressive three-under-par 68 on day three.
Leaderboard
Mickelson is five shots clear of Bill Haas in third meaning that, in all likelihood, it will come down to a straight shootout between the top two and Stenson is relishing the prospect.
"This is a new opportunity, I'm playing pretty nicely," he told Sky Sports. "I know Phil is not going to back off, he's going to keep on trying - even after we're done.
"He's a great competitor, one of the finest to play the game in the last 15 years so it's going to be a tough one tomorrow [Sunday].
"But I'm right where I want to be, I'm going to stick to my game and hopefully it'll be good enough when we add it all up tomorrow."
Stenson wasted no time in getting his round up and running on moving day with three birdies in his opening four holes and, after two bogeys at six and eight, made a further two gains on the back nine.
"As always you want to try and get a few in early," he said. "I got off to a flying start, I think I played extremely well the first five holes and there could have been another birdie at the fifth.
"Then I had a couple of wobbles six and eight, I was in trouble again on 10 but I made a bomb from about 35 or 40 feet I think. That one really kept us in the ball game, it was a huge putt, for sure. Then there were a couple of scrambles before I played a really solid last six or seven holes into the wind."
While he could be forgiven for beginning to think about collecting the Claret Jug on Sunday evening, Stenson is refusing to get ahead of himself.
"I've got two thirds and a second [at majors], I know what I want to get out of this week but at the same time, it's not going to be easy," he added.
"I need to play my game. Too many thoughts on the outcome is never good, that always gets in the way of things so I'm going to try my hardest to stay on that mental plan that I have and hopefully I can put on another good display tomorrow."
