2016 British Open Winner and Scores

The 2016 British Open was 145th time this major was played, and it produced a first-time major winner and some record-tying and -breaking scoring.

Winner: Henrik Stenson, 264

Where it was played: Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course) in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland

Tournament dates: July 14-17, 2016

Leader after first round: Phil Mickelson, 63

Leader after second round: Phil Mickelson, 132

Leader after third round: Henrik Stenson, 201

What Happened in the 2016 British Open

Henrik Stenson claimed his first major championship victory by three shots over runner-up Phil Mickelson, and in so doing Stenson set or tied several big scoring records:
  • Stenson's final-round 63 tied the tournament and major championship 18-hole scoring record.
  • Stenson's 264 total set a British Open record and an all-time men's major championship record for fewest strokes.
  • Stenson's 20-under-par finish tied the all-time major championship record for strokes in relation to par, and broke the British Open record.
Some of the records Stenson set were soon bettered, and, eventually, all of them will be. But Stenson achieved another milestone that will always be his: He became the first Swede to win one of the men's majors.

It was Mickelson who set Royal Troon afire first, shooting his own 63 in the first round. Stenson carded a 68 in the opening round, then followed that with a 65. Another 68 in the third round gave Stenson a 1-stroke lead over Mickelson, the 2013 British Open winner, heading into the final round.

And it was a 2-man race: Stenson and Mickelson began the final day a half-dozen shots in front of the field, and only pulled away. The eventual third-place finisher, J.B. Holmes, was 11 behind Mickelson and 14 behind Stenson.

Stenson and Mickelson battled for most of the last day, exchanging the lead several times early on, spending more time tied. Both played great, hitting fairways, hitting greens, making putts, sinking lots of birdies.

Mickelson — who was bogey-free in the final round — birdied the first hole, eagled the fourth and birdied the sixth. He shot 32 over the front nine. But Stenson recovered from an opening-hole bogey to make birdies on five of the next seven holes and also shot 32 on the front nine. He led Mickelson by one at the turn.

When Stenson bogeyed the 11th, the two were tied again. But Stenson then reeled off three consecutive birdies on Nos. 14-16, taking a 2-stroke lead.

When Stenson birdied the 18th hole, he had a three-stroke victory over Mickelson. It was only the second time ever at a major that the winner closed with a 63.

For Mickelson, a 5-time major winner, it was his 11th career runner-up finish in a major. That was second all-time at this point to Jack Nicklaus' 19 runner-ups. The 72-hole major scoring record that Stenson broke was David Toms' 265 at the 2001 PGA Championship. And who was runner-up in that tournament? Mickelson.

2016 British Open Final Scores

Henrik Stenson 68-65-68-63—264
Phil Mickelson 63-69-70-65—267
J.B. Holmes 70-70-69-69—278
Steve Stricker 67-75-68-69—279
Sergio Garcia 68-70-73-69—280
Tyrrell Hatton 70-71-71-68—280
Rory McIlroy 69-71-73-67—280
Andrew Johnston 69-69-70-73—281
Bill Haas 68-70-69-75—282
Dustin Johnson 71-69-72-70—282
Soren Kjeldsen 67-68-75-72—282
Emiliano Grillo 69-72-72-70—283
Zach Johnson 67-70-75-71—283
Patrick Reed 66-74-71-72—283
Matthew Southgate 71-71-72-69—283
Andy Sullivan 67-76-71-69—283
Gary Woodland 69-73-71-70—283
Keegan Bradley 67-68-76-73—284
Tony Finau 67-71-72-74—284
Miguel Angel Jimenez 71-72-70-71—284
Charl Schwartzel 72-66-73-73—284
Jason Day 73-70-71-71—285
Jason Dufner 71-71-74-69—285
David Howell 74-70-71-70—285
Thongchai Jaidee 71-74-69-71—285
Kevin Na 70-69-73-73—285
Justin Rose 68-77-70-70—285
Brandt Snedeker 73-73-68-71—285
Lee Westwood 71-73-73-68—285
Darren Clarke 71-72-73-70—286
Russell Knox 72-70-75-69—286
Ryan Palmer 72-73-71-70—286
Thomas Pieters 68-76-70-72—286
Haydn Porteous 70-76-68-72—286
Jordan Spieth 71-75-72-68—286
Padraig Harrington 70-72-73-72—287
Martin Kaymer 66-73-74-74—287
Francesco Molinari 69-71-73-74—287
Rafa Cabrera Bello 68-71-75-74—288
Matt Jones 69-73-75-71—288
Webb Simpson 70-72-71-75—288
Bubba Watson 70-76-72-70—288
Luke Donald 73-72-72-72—289
Jim Herman 70-70-72-77—289
Adam Scott 69-73-76-71—289
Nicolas Colsaerts 72-73-70-75—290
Harris English 73-73-73-71—290
Rickie Fowler 69-72-76-73—290
Matt Kuchar 71-68-75-76—290
Ryan Moore 70-73-74-73—290
Alex Noren 70-72-73-75—290
Richard Sterne 68-74-76-72—290
Kevin Chappell 71-75-73-72—291
K.T. Kim 70-71-77-73—291
Marc Leishman 74-69-75-73—291
Justin Thomas 67-77-74-73—291
Danny Willett 71-75-74-71—291
Ryan Evans 71-75-74-72—292
Byeong-Hun An 70-70-76-77—293
Jim Furyk 74-72-72-75—293
Jon Rahm 74-71-73-75—293
Daniel Summerhays 71-73-77-72—293
Paul Lawrie 72-74-74-74—294
Graeme McDowell 75-71-72-76—294
Mark O'Meara 71-72-78-73—294
Zander Lombard 69-76-74-76—295
Harold Varner III 71-72-75-77—295
Marco Dawson 72-73-77-74—296
James Hahn 74-72-74-76—296
Patton Kizzire 76-70-75-75—296
Anirban Lahiri 69-72-76-79—296
Jamie Donaldson 69-73-76-79—297
Branden Grace 70-74-76-77—297
Scott Hend 71-73-77-76—297
Yuta Ikeda 68-74-78-77—297
Kevin Kisner 70-72-80-76—298
Charley Hoffman 71-73-78-77—299
Colin Montgomerie 71-75-79-76—301
Kodai Ichihara 69-77-78-78—302
Soomin Lee 68-77-75-82—302
Greg Chalmers 72-71-77-85—305

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2015 British Open - 2017 British Open

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