The Open Championship Recap
By Dan Daly
VegasInsider.com
I see your Thursday 63 Phil and raise you a Sunday 63 for the win. Stenson didn’t just 63, he might have played the single greatest round in Major Championship history. It was that good. Especially when you consider the guy he was playing with in the final round shot a bogey free 65. Simply put…if you didn’t like the final round of the 2016 British Open then you just don’t like golf.
If you still contend Johnny Miller’s final round 63 at Oakmont was the greatest round ever played, fair enough, but Henrik Stenson’s 63 Sunday was 1B at worst.
I’ve been watching golf for 30+ years and I can’t ever remember being more impressed with a single round of golf than the one I watched Henrik Stenson shoot on Sunday at Royal Troon. The guy three putted the first hole for bogey (along with the 11th) and still shot 63. The dude missed an 8-footer on 17 or he would have made 5 straight birdies to close out a Major Championship. That’s just silly.
But it wasn’t like his 63 came out of nowhere either, Stenson had the low round of the day Friday…. Saturday…AND Sunday to cap off the lowest aggregate score in the history of Major Championship golf. In other words, no one was beating Henrik Stenson this week at the British Open. No one.
To put it another way, Stenson went shot for shot with a hall of famer, a guy who is arguably one of the ten best golfers of all time and played probably the best all-around tournament of his life…and still won by three. What Phil Mickelson did this week at Royal Troon was nothing short of spectacular, unfortunately for him, he ran into a guy who played not only one of the two best rounds in golf history but perhaps the best tournament in Major Championship history.
Mickelson has now finished second to the two lowest 72-hole scores in Major Championship History. First to David Toms at the 2001 PGA Championship (265 aggregate) and now to Henrik Stenson at the 2016 British Open (264 aggregate).
When asked if Phil believed in the Golf Gods after his round on Thursday he said, "I didn't, but I do now." The guy shoots a bogey free opening round 63, follows that up with two very solid rounds of 69 and 70 in tough weather and then caps it off with a bogey free Sunday 65 and STILL doesn’t win?! Not only are the Golf Gods real, but they clearly don’t like FIGJAM very much. I’m still trying to figure out how his putt for 62 on Thursday didn’t go in?
But hey, the good news for Phil, this was his 11th runner up finish in a major passing Arnold Palmer for “second on the list”. He’s only 8 behind Jack’s “other” major championship record now.
Golf needed a day/week/tournament like the one we got last week at Royal Troon after the first two majors both ended in total meltdowns, first by Spieth and then by the USGA. As good as the 2015 golf season was, the 2016 season had been equally as bad thus far. The performance Stenson and Mickelson put on over the weekend, and specifically on Sunday, won’t make up for the entire lackluster 2016 season, but they certainly gave it a much needed resuscitation.
As for everyone playing in the second flight.
The “big four” were pretty much a non-factor from day one. Watching Spieth putt like an average golfer was like seeing a super model without any make up on. Deep down you know it can happen, you just never really expect to see it. Day tried to make a run on the front nine both Friday and Saturday but gave it back both days on the inward nine and never ended up breaking 70 all week. DJ played maybe his worst golf in six months and still managed to finish in the Top 10. I’m just not sure a British Open will ever suit his game. And Rory did what Rory does at majors lately. He played his way completely out of the tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday only to post a low number on Sunday and back door his 8th Top 10 finish in his last 11 majors.
Death, taxes and Sergio finishing in the Top 10 at the British Open.
Despite an early scare that lasted much longer than I thought it would, my man Patrick Reed still has as many Top 10 finishes in a major as I do.
With all due respect to Andrew “Beef” Johnston, as much as I have come to love the guy, he is still no Boo Weekley.
Who didn’t see Steve Stricker as a lock in the Top 5 last week?
Nice to see Rickie Fowler broke 80 in a major this year and even managed to play the weekend. Solid T-46 for Rickie.
Stenson may have set all kinds of records at the Open, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive as what Billy Horschel did. Billy Ho shot an opening round 67 to put himself in contention after day one only to shoot EIGHTEEN shots higher on Friday and go from Top 5 to MC in one round. Now that’s impressive.
Congrats to Monty on making the cut at his home course. Sure he lost to Stenson by a mere 37 shots but the dude is a legend at that place and deserved to play the weekend on his home course at what will most likely be his final British Open.
Two final notes.
Jean Van De Velde returns to Carnoustie this week for the Senior British Open. If the same golf gods that bent Phil Mickelson over this last week could somehow find a way to let Van De Velde win there I would be eternally grateful.
Finally, congrats to NBC for what I considered outstanding coverage this week at Royal Troon. That had to set a record for most hours of live coverage ever for a golf tournament, and other than a noticeable lack of the protracer, they did a tremendous job. And for those of you that were still skeptical of the golf gods even after Phil’s lip out for 62, there is no denying them now after having Johnny Miller in the booth to call Stenson’s final round 63.
The fact that he didn’t form tackle Stenson on the 72nd green is a minor miracle. He was more proud of that final round 63 record than any athlete has ever been of any other record in sports.
The man might be on full suicide watch this week…and I’m not even kidding.