Henrik Stenson Out Duels Phil Mickelson For First Major

The final round of the Open Championship had all the makings of a letdown. While Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were only separated by a single shot heading into the final 18 at Royal Troon, the two were so far ahead of the rest of the field, it would have taken a minor miracle for a third golfer to get into the mix during the final round. What transpired Sunday was a display of golf perfection by Stenson and Mickelson. So good was their “match play” that everyone at time forgot their was anyone else on the course, NBC included.

The epicness of their showdown began before either competitor reached the first tee, when Phil kissed his hand and touched the glass encasing that housed the Claret Jug. The two teed off at 2:35pm Scotland time and by 2:47pm we already had our first lead change of the day when a three putt bogey by Stenson was matched with a birdie by Mickelson to take a one shot lead. From that point it was game on. A game of “anything you can do I can do better” seemed to break out over the next 17 holes. Mickelson would fire a dart onto a green, Stenson would follow. Stenson would pipe his tee shot down the middle, Mickelson would match. Even when one of them would his a shot off line, he would come back with a spectacular next shot to limit the damage.

The two made the turn all tied up, and that’s when the match went into overdrive. The two both drained long birdie putts on the 10th. Mickelson briefly got the lead back at 11 when he pared it and Stenson had another three putt bogey. Mickelson’s lead was short lived though when Stenson drained a 15 footer for birdie at the 14th to get it back. The turning point of the entire day, and the point everyone can look back on as the point where Stenson ended it, came at the 16th. Mickelson’s eagle putt came up one revolution shy of falling in the cup. He tapped in for his birdie but Stenson matched with one of his own. That birdie put him two up with two holes to play, sucking the wind out of Mickelson and seemingly taking away any hope that Mickelson had of still winning it.

Stenson made one more birdie on 18 to hit that magic number of 63. Phil shot a bogey free 65, three days after shooting a 63 himself and lost by three shots. It didn’t seem fair that Mickelson could play that spectacularly in the final round and lose. That’s what made this duel, compared throughout the day to Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus’ Duel in the Sun in 1977, so great. At 17-under Phil would have won all but three Opens dating back to 1946. Instead, he ran into the buzz saw that was Henrik Stenson, who shattered major records of his own. He tied the major scoring record at 20-under par. His four day total of 264 is a new major total record. Oh, and that final round 63 ties for the lowest round in major history and makes him just the second to ever shoot that in a final round, joining Johnny Miller at Oakmont at the U.S. Open in 1973.

Whether Sunday ever gets given a name like the “Duel in the Sun” is yet to be known. What we do know is that Henrik Stenson topped Phil Mickelson on Sunday in the duel at Royal Troon. Final score: 63 to 65.

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About Dan Hauser

As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.

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