OT: Amazing final round of the British Open

[ed4ourgirls]

I'm surprised that none of the golf enthusiasts on this board has had anything to
say about the riveting duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson during
yesterday's final round of the Open.

Phil shot a bogey free 65 and still lost when Stenson carded 10 birdies on his way
to a 63. Phil finished 11 shots ahead of the 3rd place finisher. Just terrific stuff.

 

[Orangutan]

I'm surprised that none of the golf enthusiasts on this board has had anything to
say about the riveting duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson during
yesterday's final round of the Open.

Phil shot a bogey free 65 and still lost when Stenson carded 10 birdies on his way
to a 63. Phil finished 11 shots ahead of the 3rd place finisher. Just terrific stuff.

I'm still recovering from my disappointment for Phil. Was really rooting for him to bag another and he played more the well enough to win. 63 in the final round is just unreasonable. It's not as if the conditions were benign like they were for Phil's 1st round 63. The win was nearly 20 mph at the start of the round. What Stenson did is just incredible.

For whatever reason, I've always liked rooting against Stenson. I guess it's easy because he is a foreigner with a stoic visage. But everyone who covers golf says that he is one of the nicest players in the game and one of the funniest. Also, he is such a great player that it would have been a shame if he never won a major. So I am happy for him.

But I would have been happier for Phil.

It has been a tough major year for my golf favorites (Spieth, Phil, Ko). Spieth's collapse on 12 at the Masters. Henderson tracking down Ko at Sahalee. Ko's disastrous double bogey on the 9th at the US Open. Now Phil losing to an all-time great performance from Stenson.

Oh well, International Crown, PGA Championship, Ladies British, Olympics, Evian, Ryder Cup, FedEx Cup. Plenty more high-stakes golf to be played.

 

[VAMike23]

Jack Nicklaus ‏@jacknicklaus Jul 17

I was fortunate to watch every second of today’s final round of the Open Championship, and I thought it was fantastic. Phil Mickelson played one of the best rounds I have ever seen played in the Open and Henrik Stenson just played better—he played one of the greatest rounds I have ever seen. Phil certainly has nothing to be ashamed of because he played wonderfully. Henrik played well from beginning to end. He drove the ball well; his iron game was great; his short game was wonderful; and his putting was great. Henrik was simply terrific. To win your first major championship is something special in and of itself, but to do it in the fashion Henrik did it in, makes for something very special and incredibly memorable. I'm proud of and happy for Henrik. Some in the media have already tried to compare today’s final round to 1977 at Turnberry, with Tom Watson and me in what they called the “duel in the sun.” I thought we played great and had a wonderful match. On that day, Tom got me, 65-66. Our final round was really good, but theirs was even better. What a great match today.

Tweeted on 18th July 2016 01:52
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LINK to Jack's Twitter page

 

[Orangutan]

Thanks for posting that, VAMike23. Spot on from the Golden Bear.

 

[uconnfan68]

Thanks for posting that, VAMike23. Spot on from the Golden Bear.

And incredibly classy as always.

 

[meyers7]

Not a big golf fan, but happy to see Mickelson lose The Open. Have never liked him. Had me worried when he was ahead for awhile there in the beginning.

 

[Gabbyfan]

I totally agree that the "duel in the sun" 2 was a compelling sports event. As some of us debated the coverage of the US open in a previous thread, I would comment that NBC should have shown more of the other golf being played by the field. It could have been done easily without missing a single shot of Stenson or Phil. Steve Stricker at age 49 was playing great golf and was in his own duel with JB Holmes for third place. Steve has been in semi retirement for 2 years now and is now fully recovered from surgery on a torn labrum and herniated discs in his neck and lower back. As a result of his finish in the British Open, he qualified for the upcoming PGA championship, got a invite to next years Masters and next years British Open when he is 50 years old. Good stuff missed by NBC.