Over the past 150 years, 428 major championships have been contested.
No one, not Bobby Jones, not Jack Nicklaus, not Lee Trevino, not Ben Hogan, not Byron Nelson, not Tiger Woods, no one has finished 20-under par after 72 holes.
Not until that historic Sunday at Royal Troon when Henrik Stenson became the oldest first-time major champion.
Your 2016-17 Champion Golfer Of The Year simply shot the round of his life, the round of anyone’s life over the final 18 holes of the 145th Open Championship in an epic battle with Phil Mickelson. It was Stenson 63, Mickelson 65 in a fight unlike any other on the final day of a major championship, much less the Open Championship.
“We’ll never see perfection on a links like that ever again in our lives,” said Nick Faldo, who knows something about links golf. “There’s no way. For them to match each other like that, it was links perfection. I’ve never seen anything like that,” said the man with three Claret Jugs.
Your newest Champion Golfer of the Year is 40-years-old. He lives in upscale Lake Nona outside Orlando with wife Emma and three children — Lisa (9), Karl (6) and Alice (2). He is well-liked on both the European and PGA Tours. In Europe they call him “Hennie Stennie.”
Even though he led by a shot going into Sunday’s final round, he was still an underdog of sorts, after all, Mickelson had done this five times, prevailing in five major championships to Stenson’s none. Stenson was the latest player to tote around that woeful title “best player to have never won a major.”
That all changed over 18 holes and Stenson was confident it would.
“I felt like this was going to be my turn. It’s not something you run around and shout but I felt like this was going to be my turn,” Stenson said after the biggest win of his career. “We both played some great golf. It makes it even more special to beat a competitor like Phil. He’s been one of the best to play the game and certainly in the last 20 years, so to come out on top after such a fight with him over four days, it makes it even more special.”
Stenson’s ball-striking has always been world-class but it has been his putting and short game that have held him back more often than not. That wasn’t the case this week, especially on Sunday when he threw up 10 birdies at Mickelson. All the putting demons of the past disappeared and he was rolling in birdie putts from all over Royal Troon. It was his time and it became obvious on the inward nine.
With the tournament well in hand, his final putt might have been a mere lag by most but like he had done all day, he went for it — went for the 63 and the immortality that 20-under-par brings in the record books. The putt never left its line, it looked like it would tease the right edge and miss, but it settled quickly behind the hole, paused for a millisecond then fell over and into the hole.
As Faldo put it, perfection!
Stenson told everyone earlier in the week that a special friend was on his mind. Stenson met Mike Gerbich in Dubai and they became fast friends. Over the years, he was a guy who encouraged Stenson through success and failure on tour. “He was a keen golfer and a great man. He’s always been there as a big supporter of mine. I felt like he was there with me all week,” Stenson said of his friend who was taken by cancer on the Wednesday before the competition began.
“This one’s for you Mike,” Stenson said as he left the presentation and strode around to show off the Claret Jug to the assembled crowds around the 18th.
Later Stenson hinted that there may be more to come.
“Yes, we’re only getting started, aren’t we? You never know once you open the flood gates what might happen.”
