Was the Henrik Stenson vs Phil Mickelson battle at Troon the best Open ever?

Henrik Stenson knew nothing but his best game, or even better than his best, was required to beat Phil Mickelson in the final round of the 2016 Open.

The pair pulled away from the field at Royal Troon after 54 holes. Stenson was on 12-under-par and Mickelson on 11 after a somewhat tougher day of scoring on Saturday at the top of the leaderboard in Ayrshire.

“I came out with that mindset going into the last round,” Stenson said to NCG. “If anyone puts themselves in the mix at an Open Championship, they are obviously a great player, but when you’re up against someone like Phil with the record he has, with the short game he has and the mental strength, I knew he wasn’t going to back down.”

Stenson had the bit between his teeth for several reasons. He hadn’t won a major before and that was partly because of Mickelson. His best major week was a runner-up finish at the 2013 Open at Muirfield when the left-handed American finally cracked the code of links golf.

The Swede had recently won the BMW International Open for the second time on the European Tour. He had won The Players at Sawgrass, the Tour Championship in Georgia, and the DP World Tour Championship twice in Dubai. But he still hadn’t won a major anywhere, despite being one of the best players on the planet in this period.

In what immediately became known as one of the greatest Open duels in the tournament’s storied history, Stenson and Mickelson got to work, in similar fashion to the way Tom Watson held off Jack Nicklaus in the Duel of the Sun at Turnberry in 1977. Which was better?

Despite making a bogey on the 1st hole and being on the wrong end of a two-shot swing, Stenson made five birdies on the front nine to lead by one at the turn.

ALSO: The Open Championship field: Who is playing in 2025?

3rd Open Championship at Royal Troon

Henrik Stenson: Open Championship battle with Phil Mickelson the best ever?

Mickelson, tucked into a black fleece and smart black shoes, eagled the 4th hole to thrill the crowd wishing him on to a second Claret Jug and with seven holes left and three birdies of his own, he was back level with his Scandinavian opponent on 16-under-par. Stenson kept his foot glued to the gas and made birdie on four of his last five holes to seal the deal.

He became the first player to win The Open on 20-under and just the second player to win a major on 20-under since Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship. His total of 264 beat Greg Norman’s previous record of 267 at the 1993 Open. Stenson went deep and made all sorts of history.

The Duel of the Sons probably doesn’t have the same ring as the sunlit battle of Nicklaus and Watson, but has there ever been such a staggering standard of striking and shot-making in The Open’s tenure?

“Two players at a very high standard, just throwing our best at it and Phil went out and shot a bogey-free 65 in the final round and it’s not good enough, that would win it for you 99 times out of 100,” he said.

“Luckily for me, I was that 100^th time when it wasn’t good enough for him, so it was a great battle and it brings back fun, strong memories of when you’re really going after something – I think it also helped me that I’d been second to Phil back in 2013 – there was only one prize I was after, so I think it made me play freely and also being up against him. I knew I had to bring my best, so those things combined and it really brought the best out of my game that day.

“I think the biggest testament to how focused and how much in the moment was when we finished, I was sitting down in recording,” he added. “And I see the scorecard on the screen and it was four birdies in the last five holes and it hadn’t even crossed my mind that I’d finished 4-under in the last five holes to win it. That’s how in the moment I was when I was playing, so it was being in the zone. I was in the zone.”

ALSO: How to qualify for The Open Championship

ALSO: What is The Open Cut rule?

Another bit between his teeth related to where Stenson is from. He became the first Scandinavian to win a men’s major and did what Jesper Parnevik couldn’t do 22 years before. Parnevik of Botkyrka in Sweden led at Turnberry by a shot from Nick Price with two holes left.

Price nailed an eagle putt on the par-5 17th hole, while Parnevik made a bogey on the 72nd to surrender the title. The man from Zimbabwe won his sole Claret Jug, what would be one of two majors that year. The historical significance of his challenge at The Open wasn’t lost on Stenson, he knew what was at stake. The women’s game had Annika and Anna later on, but the men’s game had no one.

Even beyond Stenson and Sorenstam’s shores, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn famously lost The Open in 2003 when he couldn’t get out of the greenside bunker on the 16th hole, making a double-bogey while holding a one-shot lead in Sandwich.

“I looked at that final round on a DVD from that Open when Nick Price won it in the end, and after 17 holes, you still think Jesper is going to win it,” Stenson said. “Then Price drains the 60-foot eagle putt on the 17th and Jesper goes for a tight pin and ends up short-siding himself and making bogey.

“There’s like a four-shot or a three-shot swing in one hole and all of a sudden, he comes up short, so of course, we will all look back on our careers and I don’t even have to ask Jesper – it’s the one thing that hurts him the most and the same as Thomas, he had a great chance to win at St. George’s when Ben Curtis won, and ended up short-sided in a bunker and took a few out of the trap, and that cost him the win at that time.

“We can all go back and have those kinds of tournaments, but of course, when it’s for a major championship or at TPC Sawgrass or an Olympic gold medal, there will always be those ifs and buts. That’s just the nature of professional sport at the highest level.”

NOW READ: Future Open Championship venues

NOW READ: Open Championship playoff format

Was the Henrik Stenson Open Championship win the best ever? Will the Henrik Stenson Troon performance ever be topped? Will the Henrik Stenson Open Championship of 2016 ever be topped? Tell us on X!