• American wins fifth major with stunning final-round 66
• Henrik Stenson second as Lee Westwood shares third
In constructing what should be indelibly etched in history as one of the greatest final rounds in major championship history, Phil Mickelson moved into illustrious company.
Mickelson has five majors to his name, a statistic that places him alongside Seve Ballesteros, Peter Thomson and Byron Nelson in the golfing annals. The appearance of Ballesteros on that list is especially pertinent, given the swashbuckling style which links him and Mickelson.
There is now a legitimate debate to be had regarding Mickelson's status among the greatest players of all time, if such a discussion did not exist before. Basic fact resonates in Mickelson joining golf's elite – Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player et al – by winning an Open at Muirfield.
He has claimed three of golf's four majors and is not finished yet; an Open Championship, which Mickelson has always regarded as the game's stiffest challenge, had previously seemed unlikely. It would be a surprise if the 43-year-old did not complete a major clean sweep before retirement, notwithstanding his historic agonies in the US Open.
"I'm playing some of the best golf of my career," Mickelson said. "This is the best I have ever putted. Today will be one of the most memorable rounds I have ever played. It's probably the greatest and most difficult win of my career. It is great to be part of any Open Championship and to win at Muirfield feels amazing."
And to think, Mickelson was not having much fun at all three days earlier. After the first round, he had been vocal, sniping even, towards the Royal & Ancient over the set-up of this East Lothian links. "Joy would not be the word I'd use to describe it," he had said. By 6pm on Sunday, Mickelson sampled pure elation in the company of his wife and children after racing so brilliantly through the Muirfield pack.
Mickelson's coach, Butch Harmon, was reduced to tears. Harmon has tutored four different major winners, a claim to fame in itself that must be recognised.
For years, Mickelson played an unwilling second best to Tiger Woods; not least in the eyes of the United States golfing public. That turned around as Woods's personal indiscretions emerged but Mickelson still had to go some professionally to capture hearts and minds. He has done that, and will take extra satisfaction from the ongoing struggles of Woods in majors given the well-known indifference between the pair.
Yet again in the final round, Woods failed to accelerate. His first stumble arrived with a three-putt on the opening hole which, while by no means irreversible, set the tone. Woods predictably pointed to green speeds but a more telling issue is that he has not carded under 70 in his last seven final rounds at majors.
Lee Westwood toiled under the weight of expectation which surrounded the possibility of Englishmen claiming back-to-back majors for the first time since 1909. Nick Faldo famously parred his way around Muirfield on the Sunday to lift the Claret Jug in 1987; 26 years on, Westwood slipped to a 75 and a tie for third.
Faldo, needless to say, would shake his head at Westwood's Saturday evening assertion that it "wouldn't be the end of the world" if no major comes his way. The same applies to one comment from Westwood after the tournament's climax. "I'm not too disappointed. I don't really get disappointed with golf anymore," he insisted. It may be that Westwood is simply adept at masking deep-rooted hurt when in public.
Adam Scott, who had held the lead on his own by a shot after 12 holes of Sunday's final round, subsequently offered a ruinous run which triggered inevitable thoughts of his troubles at Royal Lytham & St Annes a year ago. The Australian also offered as good an argument as any for hideous, long-handled putters not really proving the answer to bother on the greens despite suggestions to the contrary. Scott joined Westwood and Ian Poulter in third place but should rue what might have been.
"I had a look at the leaderboard a couple of times but they didn't really seem to make so much sense," Scott said. "I wasn't sure if they had it right; Phil kept moving up."
Henrik Stenson took second, alone, thanks to a final-round 70. Zach Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Hunter Mahan and Francesco Molinari are worthy of honourable mentions for their prominence up to the latter stages at such a brutally tough Open venue.
As those around him crumbled, literally one by one, Mickelson matched the best single round score of the 142nd Open, 66. After 72 holes he was the only player under par, by three shots, and the victor by the very same margin. A back nine of 32 should be placed in its proper, wonderful context.
Typically, the man from San Diego provided eye-catching theatre; most notably on the 18th hole where a fortunate bounce from his approach shot left him 15ft behind the pin. He duly converted for birdie and, despite others remaining on the course, the Claret Jug's engraver could get to work.
"I wanted to go out and get it," Mickelson said. "That's how I have been my entire career. I don't want anyone to hand it to me. And today I did."
A footnote, if an interesting one, can be found in Mickelson becoming the third successive player to win an Open the week after playing its Scottish equivalent. Indeed, Mickelson even emerged as the victor last week with Stenson also in the Castle Stuart field.
That rather makes a mockery both of superstition and the increasingly held theory by some of the world's top players that they should take a week off before majors, specifically the third one of the year.
The reality is that class will normally emerge on golf's greatest stage. Mickelson had proven that even before he walked from Muirfield's 18th green; the latest, sweet triumph for the left-hander merely confirmed this player's rightful place among his sport's aristocracy.
