Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson in final round Open shoot-out
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Saturday is meant to be moving day but there wasn’t a great deal of movement at the top of the Open leaderboard.
Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson dominated the opening two rounds and there was clear daylight between them and the rest of the field….and that’s how is stayed after a ding-dong third round.
The dynamic duo maintained their form and comfortable cushion and are firmly in the driving seat with the Swede going into Sunday one shot ahead of the vastly experienced Lefty who, in turn, is five shots clear of fellow American, third placed Bill Haas.
On paper, it seems a straightforward shoot-out between Mickelson and Stenson but golf isn’t played on paper but very often in tricky, sometimes brutal conditions and no doubt neither will be counting any chickens just yet.
Golf is one of the most unpredictable of games and you can never afford to take anything for granted. If you do, it’s odds-on you will come badly unstuck.
Plus, of course, all the pressure and expectation will be on Stenson and Mickelson whereas the others on the leaderboard know that if they can keep everything in check and post a good score they can emerge from the pack and possibly in with a shout of lifting the Claret Jug.
And that includes England’s Mr Popular Andrew Johnston, better known as ‘Beef’ who is enjoying a fantastic Open and occupying fourth spot on his own at -5. He may be seven shots off the lead, but you know ‘Beef’ will give it his best shot and enjoy it whether he achieves mission impossible or not.
History is on Mickelson’s side. Americans have won the past seven Troon opens while three years ago at Muirfield Lefty claimed his first Claret Jug after shooting a magical final round and among his victims then was…Stenson.
Stenson will be hungry to turn the tables and become the first Swede to celebrate Open victory. If he keeps calm and collected, holds his nerve and plays as well and solidly as he did today, he could well create a slice of Open history.
It should be a classic shoot-out between two superstars, veterans even (Stenson is now 40) of the game, but wouldn’t it be great if the bearded ‘Beef’ carved out a magical final round and thrust himself into contention too?
