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2016 / Royal Troon
Henrik Stenson finally broke his major duck at the 41st time of asking after winning The 145th Open at Royal Troon in record-breaking fashion to take his place among the all-time greats.
The 40-year-old, who also became the first Swede to lift the Claret Jug, started the final day one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson and carded an eight-under-par 63, featuring ten birdies, to claim a three-shot victory over the 2013 Champion Golfer of the Year on a 20-under-par 264.
Stenson’s battle with Mickelson over the Ayrshire links will go down as one of the most historic head-to-heads in the history of The Open.
It was apt that it mirrored the famous ‘Duel in the Sun’ between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus back in 1977, which took place just down the coast at Turnberry.
The pair played 36 holes together at Royal Troon, trading shot for shot, blow for blow, and pulled away from the rest of the field as the weekend passed – with the eventual gap between Stenson and third-placed JB Holmes and incredible 14 strokes.
The Swede’s closing 63 shaved one shot of the previous record for the lowest last round ever recorded by a winner of The Open, which had been set by Greg Norman when he carded a 64 at Royal St George’s in 1993.
The great Australian had also set a new Open 72-hole record in the same year but Stenson beat it by three, bulldozing any hopes of Mickelson’s about claiming his second Claret Jug and felt immense pride at becoming the first Swede to win a major.
“I feel very privileged to be the one to hold this trophy,” he said after being crowned Champion Golfer of the Year.
“There have been many great players from my country who have tried and there have been a couple of really close calls. This is going to be massive for golf in Sweden.”
Capturing the Claret Jug had been a long time coming for Stenson, who had previously had three second-place finishes and six thirds in majors.
After turning professional in 1998, the popular Scandinavian has spent over 250 weeks in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings and his career-high ranking of second is the best of any Swedish male golfer.
It was apt that it mirrored the famous ‘Duel in the Sun’ between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus back in 1977, which took place just down the coast at Turnberry.
The pair played 36 holes together at Royal Troon, trading shot for shot, blow for blow, and pulled away from the rest of the field as the weekend passed – with the eventual gap between Stenson and third-placed JB Holmes and incredible 14 strokes.
The Swede’s closing 63 shaved one shot of the previous record for the lowest last round ever recorded by a winner of The Open, which had been set by Greg Norman when he carded a 64 at Royal St George’s in 1993.
The great Australian had also set a new Open 72-hole record in the same year but Stenson beat it by three, bulldozing any hopes of Mickelson’s about claiming his second Claret Jug and felt immense pride at becoming the first Swede to win a major.
“I feel very privileged to be the one to hold this trophy,” he said after being crowned Champion Golfer of the Year.
“There have been many great players from my country who have tried and there have been a couple of really close calls. This is going to be massive for golf in Sweden.”
Capturing the Claret Jug had been a long time coming for Stenson, who had previously had three second-place finishes and six thirds in majors.
After turning professional in 1998, the popular Scandinavian has spent over 250 weeks in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings and his career-high ranking of second is the best of any Swedish male golfer.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
JB HOLMES
3
70
70
69
69
278
-6
Steve STRICKER
4
67
75
68
69
279
-5
Soren KJELDSEN
T9
67
68
75
72
282
-2
Bill HAAS
T9
68
70
69
75
282
-2
Andy SULLIVAN
T12
67
76
71
69
283
-1
Jason DUFNER
T22
71
71
74
69
285
1
David HOWELL
T22
74
70
71
70
285
1
Thongchai JAIDEE
T22
71
74
69
71
285
1
Russell KNOX
T30
72
70
75
69
286
2
Ryan PALMER
T30
72
73
71
70
286
2
Haydn PORTEOUS
T30
70
76
68
72
286
2
Matt JONES
T39
69
73
75
71
288
4
Luke DONALD
T43
73
72
72
72
289
5
Jim HERMAN
T43
70
70
72
77
289
5
Richard STERNE
T46
68
74
76
72
290
6
Ryan MOORE
T46
70
73
74
73
290
6
Nicolas COLSAERTS
T46
72
73
70
75
290
6
Kevin CHAPPELL
T53
71
75
73
72
291
7
KT KIM
T53
70
71
77
73
291
7
Ryan EVANS
58
71
75
74
72
292
8
Daniel SUMMERHAYS
T59
71
73
77
72
293
9
Marco DAWSON
T68
72
73
77
74
296
12
Patton KIZZIRE
T68
76
70
75
75
296
12
James HAHN
T68
74
72
74
76
296
12
Anirban LAHIRI
T68
69
72
76
79
296
12
Scott HEND
T72
71
73
77
76
297
13
Yuta IKEDA
T72
68
74
78
77
297
13
Charley HOFFMAN
77
71
73
78
77
299
15
Kodai ICHIHARA
T79
69
77
78
78
302
18
Soomin LEE
T79
68
77
75
82
302
18
Greg CHALMERS
81
72
71
77
85
305
21
Robert STREB
M/C
74
73
-
-
-
M/C
Marcus FRASER
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
George COETZEE
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
William McGIRT
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Rod PAMPLING
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jordan NIEBRUGGE
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Steven ALKER
M/C
73
75
-
-
-
M/C
Smylie KAUFMAN
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Matteo MANASSERO
M/C
70
78
-
-
-
M/C
Nathan HOLMAN
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Anthony WALL
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Colt KNOST
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Sanghee LEE
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Kiradech APHIBARNRAT
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ross FISHER
M/C
71
78
-
-
-
M/C
Brendan STEELE
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Clement SORDET
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Nick CULLEN
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Brian GAY
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Fabian GOMEZ
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Jeunghun WANG
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Victor DUBUISSON
M/C
71
79
-
-
-
M/C
Robert ROCK
M/C
71
79
-
-
-
M/C
Dave COUPLAND
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Kristoffer BROBERG
M/C
77
74
-
-
-
M/C
Brandon STONE
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Scott GREGORY
M/C
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
Hideto TANIHARA
M/C
72
79
-
-
-
M/C
Yosuke TSUKADA
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jack SENIOR
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
James HEATH
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Phachara KHONGWATMAI
M/C
71
81
-
-
-
M/C
Scott FERNANDEZ
M/C
72
80
-
-
-
M/C
Rikard KARLBERG
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Seung Yul NOH
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Lasse JENSEN
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Satoshi KODAIRA
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Stefano MAZZOLI
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Paul HOWARD
M/C
73
81
-
-
-
M/C
James MORRISON
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Danny LEE
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Paul DUNNE
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jamie LOVEMARK
M/C
74
81
-
-
-
M/C
Steven BOWDITCH
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Scott PIERCY
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Oskar ARVIDSSON
M/C
75
84
-
-
-
M/C