BRITISH OPEN '24: Stenson and Mickelson return to the scene of their duel at Troon
Jim “Bones” Mackay returns to Royal Troon with a microphone and a television headset, certainly a lighter load than the 40-pound golf bag he carried the last time he was there. Having a new role for this British Open is probably just as well.
Nothing can match memories from that week.
Royal Troon is hosting golf's oldest championship for the 10th time, just over a century removed from when it first became part of the rotation. But it forever will be associated with Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson delivering a performance for the ages in 2016.
“It was really special and one of those handful of times — as I get a little older — that I think back about how absolutely privileged I was to be there in person and to watch it,” said Mackay, who was Mickelson’s caddie that year and had a front-row seat to history.
“Because it was just golf at its absolute highest level.”
“High Troon” was one description of the epic duel.
They were never separated by more than two shots over the 40 consecutive holes until the magnificent match — that's what it was considering J.B. Holmes in third place was a further 11 shots behind — ended with Stenson making birdie on the final hole for a 63 and the lowest score in major championship history at 264.
“Only time I can remember in my career where I played my absolute best golf and it wasn’t enough to win,” Mickelson said from the LIV Golf event in Spain.
Mackay was on the bag for Mickelson. He saw two rounds of 63 that week — Mickelson on the first day, Stenson on the last. There was energy in the crowd he recalls seeing only at a Ryder Cup. There was a level of play among two players he had never witnessed.
And one memory that stands out came from an R&A official worried about pace of play, when everyone else wanted time to stand still.
“Phil had just made a 25- or 30-footer for par on 12, and I was the last guy off the tee,” Mackay said on an NBC conference call. "I think I had grabbed some water, and an R&A official came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Would you mind telling both the players that we’re concerned about their position on the golf and they need to hurry up a little bit.'
“I said: ‘Sir, this is so amazing what’s going on out here right now, I'm not saying a word to anybody about anything. I just want to watch this play out.'”
It played out in Stenson's favor, giving the Swede his lone major championship and denying Mickelson a second claret jug. Losing is never fun, and Mickelson has done his share of it — 12 times a runner-up in the majors to go along with the six he won.
But it was hard not to appreciate this. Mickelson had a birdie putt from 16 feet roll around the right edge of the cup in a bid to become the first player with 62 in a major. When he tapped in for par on Sunday, he briefly shared the Open record at 267, but only for as long as it took Stenson to make one last birdie for his record 72-hole score.
Stenson and Johnny Miller at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open are the only players to close with a 63 to win a major. The difference was Stenson made two bogeys in the final round, including a three-putt on the first hole that took him from a one-shot lead to a one-shot deficit when Mickelson opened with a birdie.
And off they went, a brand of golf so exquisite they combined for 14 birdies and one eagle. Their best-ball score would have been 59.
“I was 40 at the time and I never knew how many chances I’m going to get to win a major championship,” Stenson said.
He had finished runner-up by three shots to Mickelson at Muirfield three years earlier.
“Going up against Phil, I knew I was in for a real challenge,” Stenson said from Spain. “He was never going to back down. He had an incredible short game and at that time already had four majors in the bag. I knew what I was up against and I think that helped me to just let go and really go after it and bring my absolute best. And lucky for me, I managed to do that.”
There was a steady dose of confidence to go with any luck. That much was evident on the seventh tee of the final round, right after both had made birdie and were tied for the lead.
Stenson had made a wager with his caddie, Gareth Lord, a year earlier that if he won a major, Lord would have to quit smoking. It was on the seventh tee that Lord lit up a cigarette.
Stenson looked over at him and said, “Enjoy that — you have about 2 1/2 hours left.”
Their matchup has evoked comparisons with the “Duel in the Sun" from 1977 at Turnberry between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, two of the biggest figures in golf.
Watson had beaten Nicklaus at the Masters earlier that year — taking the lead on the 17th hole, just as he did at Turnberry — and was seen as being the player who could take down golf's greatest champion.
Stenson and Mickelson were both heading toward their twilights — Mickelson amazingly won another major at age 50 in the 2021 PGA Championship. This wasn't about a statement. This was simply golf at its very best between two players who had separated themselves from everyone else that year at Troon.
“The quality of the golf was pretty much mind-blowing for me,” Mackay said. “Both those guys were absolutely incredible. I remember the crowds, the spectators ... just the buzz around the place. The electric atmosphere was maybe something I never saw again.”
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