Henrik Stenson wins the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon

A major championship final round is at its best when each hole becomes its own dramatic scene, its own act in a play that’s built over four hours. Sunday’s final round at The Open was one of the best piece-by-piece battles we’ve ever seen, as Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson one-upped each other every 10 or 15 minutes with golf that was just so many miles better than the other 154 players who entered The Open.

The two were so much better than everyone else in the field that it felt wrong that one had to go home without the Claret Jug. But Stenson put on a historic performance to beat Phil and become the Champion Golfer of the Year. Royal Troon was not that easy -- sure there were birdie opportunities, but this was not some pitch-and-putt track where a bunch of records could fall.

Stenson beat Tiger Woods’ Open Championship mark of 19-under, set at St. Andrews in 2000. At the 18th hole, he poured in a putt to get to the 20-under mark, matching the major record set by Jason Day last year at the PGA, and setting a new aggregate score record of 264. The putt also matched that infamous major championship scoring record of 63, which has now been posted 29 times at the four different majors.

It seemed that only a record-setting performance was going to beat Phil, who shot a 65 and lost by THREE SHOTS.

The pace set on the front nine was supposed to let up on the much more difficult back nine at Troon, but Stenson did not relent. The putter is often cited as his primary weakness, but the first real separation of the day from Phil came at the 15th, where Stenson bombed in a 51-foot putt from off the green to go up by two.

Phil was still there putting together the best Sunday round of a his major championship career, one that includes five major titles and that improbable 67 to win this championship at Muirfield three years ago. He kept plugging away, stringing together one of the best weeks of his 46-year-old life, but there was nothing he could really do. There were an eagle and two birdies on the front nine, and he still went to the back trailing by a shot.

This was not just a Sunday duel -- this went back and forth over two days and 36 holes. At some point on Friday morning, before much of the United States was awake, it looked like the weekend might not even be necessary. Mickelson led by five shots in his second round and absolutely nothing was missing. It seemed to be a runaway. But then Stenson turned it on a couple hours later, coming in with a 6-under 65 that was almost as good as Phil’s major championship record matching 63 the day prior. It set the scene for an unforgettable two-man weekend, that would end with Stenson actually matching Phil’s 63 with his own.

A younger generation has heard about the 1977 “Duel in the Sun” at Turnberry, and seen highlights decades later, but hadn’t felt the hole-by-hole drama in the moment. This was incredible to watch build over the four hours in Scotland, and the kind of one-on-one show we almost never get at a stroke play major championship.

The Swede has long been one of the top worldwide talents in golf, winning every kind of event across the globe, except for that major championship. Annika Sorenstam owned the women’s game stacking up majors, but no Swede had ever won a men’s major championship. It felt appropriate that Stenson was the one to do it, given all that he’s accomplished -- a dominant FedExCup playoffs title, a Race to Dubai playoffs win on the European Tour and a Players Championship, considered the game’s “fifth major.” Now he’s got his major championship, in a “home” event of sorts in Europe and with one of the greatest performances in major championship history.

Here’s the final leaderboard from Troon: