The 2016 Open Championship Discussion Thread

[Blade Junkie]

Quite staggering that Phil Mickelson can tack a 65 on top of a 63, be under par in both of his other two rounds, and still lose by three shots to Henrik Stenson.

 

Simply AWESOME golf by this pair - to shoot 14 under as the last pairing in a Major Championship ... that's 5 better than the fabled 1977 Duel in the Sun between Nicklaus and Watson !

[Rangeballz]

And maybe they should give medal to the guy who won the A flight, JB Holmes.

 

And a bronze shaft to Thomas Pieters for his fantastic club snapping and disposal on 11. That was award-worthy.

[Fade to Black]

If you told Phil at the start of the day that he'd shoot 5- or 6-under, he'd bet on it 10/10 times that he'd win.

 

Just a great final round showdown. Stenson just would not let up.

[i*windows]

people talk about the best side of the draw but these guys are just so bloody good, I'll give 1000 euros to anyone on this forum who could shoot any score under par for 4 rounds at Troon in the calmest of condition. Awesome performance by the two best golfers this week

[KarstenK]

It was a fantastic watch, very happy for Stenson. Saw that Phil's -17 would have won all but four Open Championships.

[imakaveli]

One of the greatest display of golf I have ever seen, incredible battle! Congrats to Henrik for breaking the Open Championship record, maiden Major, bein the Champion Golfer of the Year, that putt on 14... wow!

[RBImGuy]

The best last day of a Major in the history of golf

[bladehunter]

Cool fact. Stenson is a natural lefty playing righty. Phil ......

 

Did nkt know that. Me too ! Lol

Lefty to righty like Henrik or righty to lefty lie Phil? Both? Lol.

 

Lefty to righty ... Lol. Although I'm pretty ambidextrous at everything.

[tnord]

was that the best round of golf ever?

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

[Paule350]

Stenson and Lefty are my top two picks, Scott and Day also right up there too. The problem is there is so much talent out there it is hard to pick!

 

 

whos winning the PGA champ?? nice call

[imakaveli]

One of the greatest Major Championship ever!

 

 

 

 

[PZero]

I'm happy for Stenson. He was too good to not have won a major and he will certainly cherish this.

 

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

 

Nor do par 3's need to be 280+ yards.

[walter-sobchak]

Loved this final day. Great golf by two admirable seasoned players.

[ode1]

Mono y mono, two days in a row. Dart after dart. Fantastic!

[Gem]

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

 

I totally agree. It is often the ridiculous pace of the greens at both the Masters and US Open that decide the winner. Maybe 11 or 12 at most is fine.

[The Pearl]

The Rd. 3 pin placement on the postage stamp was just a wonderful paradox. 100 yds into the wind. The guys just couldn't bring themselves to hit it past the hole and see what happened from there. Many, many got suckered into hitting it hole high and spinning it back into the bunker.

 

Just a genius golf hole.

[Shankieboink]

Mickelson: "I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a Major, usually that's good enough to do it, and I got beat. I got beat by ten birdies. It's not like other guys were out there doing the same thing. It was a challenging day." "It's probably the best I've played and not won," he said. "I think that's probably why it's disappointing in that I don't have a point where I can look back and say, 'I should have done that or had I only done this'.

[Shankieboink]

Mickelsons swing looked so good all week. He will win more majors if he can swing like that. Maybe even at the PGA championship.

[drewtaylor21]

was that the best round of golf ever?

 

It'd be interesting to see the numbers between this and Miller's 63. I believe JM holds the record for strokes gained tee to green in a single round at around 9 from his 63 at Oakmont. I don't think Stenson's round matched that, but hopefully those numbers show up somewhere soon. Field average in 1973 on Sunday was 73.8 (par 70), I think field average today was 73.6 (par 71). I'd have to give the nod to Miller.

 

I'm not sure there's ever been a better final pairing in a major though, 63-65?

[Holy Moses]

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

 

It's not because the R&A is just a considerate group of people. If they cut them at 13, when the wind blows the course becomes unplayable because the ball won't stay put on the greens.

[rony]

Don't believe I've ever seen that caliber of golf played before.

[Gem]

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

 

It's not because the R&A is just a considerate group of people. If they cut them at 13, when the wind blows the course becomes unplayable because the ball won't stay put on the greens.

 

Even with calm wind forecast they won't have them more than 11. The other majors would be better with slower greens in my opinion.

[BIG STU]

Hope the USGA was paying attention. Greens don't need to be 13 or more.

 

It's not because the R&A is just a considerate group of people. If they cut them at 13, when the wind blows the course becomes unplayable because the ball won't stay put on the greens.

100% correct-- The idiots at the USGA do not have that much sense!!!!

[Forged4ever]

The best last day of a Major in the history of golf

Indeed, it was an incredible display by two amazing Champions....

 

It will definitely go into the books as one of THE most exciting final rounds in Major golf history.

 

However, as THE greatest?

 

My vote still goes for 04/13/1986-

 

Not just because of the Champion that day however there was a lot of great theatre as a few Champions fell by the wayside.

 

This finish is definitely one for the ages however my vote still goes to that 1986 Sunday, the day after my BDay, HaHa

 

I'm biased, lol

 

All the Best,

RP

[flip flappy]

Pretty sure we will be able to see this round again on Golf's Greatest Rounds on GC. Thought that is was pretty classy of Phil to walk off the green with his arm around Stenson. Best final pairing I have seen maybe ever.

[Shankieboink]

Woods' U.S. Open performance, when he finished at 12 under and 15 strokes ahead of second-place is lauded as the most dominant showing ever. The field average that year was 17 over, meaning he beat that by 29 strokes. Stenson at this year's Open shot 20-under with a field average of 9 over -- 29 strokes.

[wannabepar]

One of the greatest display of golf I have ever seen, incredible battle! Congrats to Henrik for breaking the Open Championship record, maiden Major, bein the Champion Golfer of the Year, that putt on 14... wow!

 

Yea, but that 51 footer from the fringe on 15 was even more epic. Thanks to two incredible seasoned golfers for the best Open that I have ever watched.

[ex0dus]

was that the best round of golf ever?

 

It'd be interesting to see the numbers between this and Miller's 63. I believe JM holds the record for strokes gained tee to green in a single round at around 9 from his 63 at Oakmont. I don't think Stenson's round matched that, but hopefully those numbers show up somewhere soon. Field average in 1973 on Sunday was 73.8 (par 70), I think field average today was 73.6 (par 71). I'd have to give the nod to Miller.

 

I'm not sure there's ever been a better final pairing in a major though, 63-65?

 

 

Nobody at 66, one guy at 67 and 3 guys at 68 today. The last pairing was a combined 14 under.

 

:swoon:

 

Miller didn't have to go head to head with anyone knowing that the trophy was on the line. He finished way before the leaders.

 

HS and PM really pushed each other to the limit.

[playa]

was that the best round of golf ever?

Oh my. Johnny will be tearing his hair out. Now there is a new 63 to talk about. I really feel for Phil. He did everything right and still came up empty handed. So many of his seconds in majors have involved incredible play from the winner. He is the Greg Norman of his generation.