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.