It was the best finish to a Major

What a sensational finish we had at the Royal Troon for the Open Sunday night. It must surely rank as the best I have seen in my short career and most people around me, many of whom had seen decades of Majors. Henrik Stenson and Phlil Mickelson produced one of the most magnificent duels of a final day in a Major.

Imagine two stars who pulled away from the rest of the field into the weekend and then set up a ‘near’ matchplay situation. Stenson shot a 63 on a final and Mickelson produced a bogey free and still ended slipping back from a one-shot deficit to three-shot loss at the end of the week.

Stenson’s game through the week with rounds of 68-65-68-63 suggested a different level of golf, which saw him total 20-under, which I believe is among the very best shot at a Major.

One feels so happy for Stenson, who has been near the top for many years and come close to Majors on numerous occasions, but never quite crossed the line to take the Trophy. He rectified that on Sunday and now that he has won everything – FedEX Cup, Race to Dubai and now a Major, he is likely to add more Major trophies.

So Stenson was 20-under and Mickelson was 17-under. The next guy was JB Holmes at six-under, which is 11 shots behind Mickelson and 14 behind Stenson. Steve Stricker was fourth at five-under and Rory McIlroy was fifth at four-under.

Clearly Stenson and Mickelson were clearly playing a different tournament, so to say.
As for me, it was a week that has to be shrugged aside, a few lessons learnt for the future and time to get ready for PGA Championships and then the Rio Olympics.

I am really looking forward to PGA, where I have great memories and of course, Olympics is a different kind of a dream – that was made possible only recently by its inclusion into the Games.