Records Tumble for Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon

We look at some of the key facts and figures behind Henrik Stenson's triumph

After Henrik Stenson’s masterful display at Royal Troon, we look at some of the key facts and figures behind the Swede’s triumph

With Henrik Stenson securing his first Major with a wonderful display at Royal Troon, we look at some of the key facts and figures, on a day when records tumbled at The Open:

264 – Lowest total score in a Major. He beat David Tom’s total of 265 at the 2001 USPGA Championship. The previous lowest score at The Open was 267 from Greg Norman at Royal St George’s in 1993. 272 was the previous best at Royal Troon by Justin Leonard in 1997.

20-under – Equals the lowest score to par at a Major championship set by Jason Day at the USPGA last year. It beats Tiger Woods’ record of 19-under for the Open Championship in 2000.

63 – Lowest final round by a champion beating Greg Norman’s 64 in 1993 at Royal St George’s.

267Phil Mickelson’s score was the lowest total from a runner-up at The Open beating 269 set by Jack Nicklaus in 1977, and equalled by Nick Faldo in 1993 and Jesper Parnevik in 1994.

Mickleson was hoping to become the oldest winner of the Open since Old Tom Morris in 1867 and the oldest Major winner since Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters.

63 – Stenson’s Sunday round and Mickelson’s round on Thursday were the joint-lowest score at a Major and the lowest at a Troon Open.

11 – Mickelson has now finished second 11 times in a Major tournament drawing ahead of Arnold Palmer but still eight behind Jack Nicklaus.

Stenson became the first Swedish player to win a Major and also the first from Scandinavian.

Stenson had seven top-four finishes in the Majors trailing only Lee Westwood (nine top-fours) and Sergio García (eight) in the nearly-man stakes before today.

Mickelson has not won a tournament since beating Stenson into second place at Muirfield three years ago.

59 – If the final group today had been playing betterball they would have shot 59.

173,000 spectators saw the tournament over the four days. This is 20th on the all-time list of crowds at The Open. The figure is down from 237,000 last year. The all-time record is 239,000 at St Andrews in 2000 and Royal Troon’s best is 176,000 in both 1997 and 2004.

David Taylor

David joined Golf Monthly in 2015 as a content editor for the magazine and regularly contributes to the website. He has worked in magazine publishing and editing since 2003. He is a keen golfer and up until recently was a member of Blackmoor Golf Club in Hampshire. He has covered various big events and tournaments for GM, the highlight of which was witnessing Tiger Woods win his 15th Major at Augusta in 2019. Email: david.taylor@futurenet.com