Phil Mickelson partnered Henrik Stenson in the final pairing in the closing round of The Open Championship in 2016 at Royal Troon. The American, the Open Champion of 2013 at Muirfield, began the day one shot behind Stenson’s 54-hole lead. On the first hole, Mickelson set the tone for this duel, delivering an 8-iron from the 1st fairway that only just missed the cup. He birdied while Stenson dropped a shot and the championship lead was immediately overturned.
Mickelson marched onwards to shoot a bogey-free six-under-par 65. On any other day, it would have been a convincing tournament-winning performance to leave Sweden still longing for its first men’s Major Champion after a decades-long catalogue of near misses, but Stenson was undeterred. He birdied the next three holes, reclaimed the lead and then shot 31 on Troon’s notorious back nine to post 63, eight-under-par, and beat Mickelson by three shots.
