Phil Mickelson has admitted to feeling "disappointed" at finishing second to Henrik Stenson at The Open after carding an impressive score at Royal Troon.
The 46-year-old dropped just four shots across all four rounds to finish on 17-under-par, which would have been enough to claim the title in 140 of the previous 144 championships.
Stenson set a new record for the highest-ever score at the tournament, eventually finishing three strokes ahead in a two-way shootout at the top to leave Mickelson as a runner-up at a Major for the 11th time in his career.
"I played well enough to win by a number of strokes and got beat," Mickelson is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
"I'm happy with the way I played, but disappointed it wasn't enough. I played a bogey-free round and shot 65 in the final round of a Major - usually that's good enough to do it, but I got beat."
Mickelson finished third the last time The Open was staged at Royal Troon in 2004.
Daniel Lewis
