TROON, Scotland -- Henrik Stenson is the champion golfer of the year, thanks to a final round for the ages.He kept hitting the best shots of his life, one after another, and he needed each one to stay ahead of Phil Mickelson in a British Open duel that ranked among the best in major championship history.Stenson made 10 birdies, including a 50-foot putt across the 15th green that had him pumping his fist in a rare show of emotion Sunday.The final stroke in this masterpiece was a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that curled into the cup on the final turn. It gave him an 8-under 63, tying Johnny Miller at Oakmont for the greatest closing round by a major champion, and Stenson didnt even realize it until he sat down to sign his card.Records didnt matter. This was about winning his first major.Right now Im running on adrenaline. But there will be some point when Ill struggle to make it up the stairs when I get back to the house, Stenson said after four hours of an epic battle between two 40-somethings at Royal Troon.Mickelson was a runner-up for the 11th time in a major, but never like this. He cant look back at a mistake because he really didnt make any. He opened with a 63, closed with a career-best 65, shot the second-best score in Open history and was 11 shots better than everyone in the field.Except one.Its probably the best Ive played and not won, Mickelson said. I think thats probably why its disappointing in that I dont have a point where I can look back and say, `I should have done that or had I only done this. I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a major. Usually, thats good enough to do it, and I got beat. I got beat by 10 birdies.He got beat by arguably the best final round in 156 years of major championships.Miller also made 10 birdies in his final round of the 1973 U.S. Open, and then waited to see if anyone could catch him. Stenson started the final round with a one-shot lead over Mickelson, and knew it would be a two-man race from the opening hole when Mickelson nearly holed out from the fairway.He answered great shot with one of his own, finally pulling away with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, and then a third in a row after Mickelson drilled a 3-wood onto the green at the par-5 16th and came within a fraction of an inch of making an eagle.The last birdie was for the record book.Stenson finished at 264, breaking by one shot the 72-hole scoring record in the majors that David Toms set in the 2001 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. His 20-under par matched Jason Days record for lowest under par at last years PGA Championship.His biggest challenge was 46-year-old Mickelson, who has won five majors.I knew he wasnt going to back down at any point, and in a way that makes it easier for myself, Stenson said. I knew I had to keep on pushing, keep on giving myself birdie chances. He wasnt going to give it to me, so I had to pull away. Im just delighted I managed to do that with a couple of birdies at the right time.This was heavyweight material, reminiscent of the Duel in the Sun just down the Ayrshire coastline at Turnberry in 1977, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus battled to the final hole, and no one else was closer than 10 shots.Stenson and Mickelson were never separated by more than two shots over 40 straight holes until the Swedes final birdie. In the final round, they combined to make 14 birdies and an eagle. If this was a better-ball match, they would have shot 59.Ive always thought that he is one of the best ball-strikers in the game and that major championships are perfectly suited for him, Mickelson said. I knew that he would ultimately come through and win. Im happy that he did. Im disappointed that it was at my expense.J.B. Holmes won the B-Flight. He finished third, 14 shots behind.The Swede won his first major in his 42nd attempt, becoming only the ninth player to capture his first major after turning 40. Beyond the score, the measure of his performance was that he putted for a birdie on every hole Sunday in a mild wind off the Irish Sea. Stenson three-putted for bogey from just off the first green, and he three-putted on No. 11 to fall back into a tie for the lead.They matched pars on only six of the 18 holes.Stenson became only the fourth player to win the British Open with all four rounds in the 60s, joining Tiger Woods, Nick Price and Greg Norman. He also ended a streak of six American winners at Royal Troon that dated to 1950.He gave Sweden a long-awaited major in mens golf, 19 years after Jesper Parnevik lost a 54-hole lead at Royal Troon. Stenson said Parnevik send him a message that said, Go out and finish what I didnt manage to finish.Im really proud to have done that, and its going to be massive for golf in Sweden with this win, Stenson said.Maybe he can take that silver jug down to Rio in his search of Olympic gold.Golfs top four players have withdrawn from the Olympics , but the Rio Games will have at least two of this years major champions -- Stenson and Masters winner Danny Willett of England.Theres one more major to play before Rio. Take a breath, Henrik. The PGA Championship starts a week from Thursday. Nike Air Max Selber Gestalten Schweiz . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Air Max Günstig .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. http://www.airmaxschweizonline.ch/ . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Air Max Billig Kaufen .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Air Max Günstig Schweiz . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. SAN FRANCISCO -- The up-and-down Giants are going down to the wire in a bid to keep their even-year magic going.With three games left, manager Bruce Bochys ballclub is sandwiched between the Mets and Cardinals in the race for the two NL wild-card spots with two games separating the three teams.Its not exactly how Bochy envisioned it, not after the Giants went into the All-Star break with the best record in the majors. Given the alternative, however, San Franciscos skipper certainly isnt complaining.We certainly wish we were in a better position but you dont stop fighting, Bochy said following San Franciscos 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night. It is what it is as far as our situation that we created. We know that.The Giants -- who won the World Series in 2010, 12 and 14 -- are one game behind the idle Mets and one game ahead of St. Louis. The Cardinals beat Cincinnati on Thursday.San Francisco hosts the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday, the Cardinals play Pittsburgh at home and the Mets close out the regular season in Philadelphia.I dont know whats going to happen but theyll keep fighting and well see what happens, Bochy said.Johnny Cueto pitched seven uneven innings for his 18th win to help set up the wild race to the finish.Cueto (18-5) overcame a shaky start in his first appearance since being sidelined more than a week with a groin strain. The All-Star right-hander matched his season high of 11 strikeouts, allowed two runs, nine hits and walked one to beat the Colorado for the third time this season.After we took the lead I just got focused on what I needed to do, Cueto said through an interpreter, adding that hes open to pitching in relief against the Dodgers if needed. Im ready. The last game is on Sunday and if they give me the ball Ill take (it).Conor Gillaspie, Angel Pagan and Brandon Crawford had two hits apiece to help the Giants bounce back after getting shut out a night earlier.Nolan Arenado had two hits and ann RBI for Colorado, which was eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend and has dropped eight of 10.dddddddddddd(Cueto) found his groove and he was doing his thing, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Once he gets rolling hes one of those top-of-the-rotation guys that can be tough to get to.On a night when St. Louis rallied to win on a walkoff hit in the ninth, San Francisco staged its own comeback.Arenado hit an RBI double in the first and scored on David Dahls triple to put the Rockies up 2-0.The Giants tied it with two runs in the fourth, then went ahead in the sixth with help from Colorados defense. The Rockies committed two errors, including a wild throw by third baseman Arenado on Cuetos one-out bunt single that allowed two runs to score.Colorado starter Jon Gray (10-10) allowed five runs over 5 1/3 innings and left shortly after he appeared to get hit in the right ankle by Crawfords line drive in the sixth.It hurt pretty bad but Ill be all right. Nothing serious, Gray said.TAKING NO CHANCESBochy used four relievers to record the final six outs. One-time closer Santiago Casilla was not among them. Instead, Sergio Romo pitched the ninth and retired Charles Blackmon on a fly ball to end it. Youre in a situation where you have to win now, Bochy said.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: INF Eduardo Nunez is making slight progress from a mild hamstring strain but could still miss the wild-card round of the playoffs if San Francisco makes it that far. Nunez has not played since Sept. 25.UP NEXTRockies: RHP Chad Bettis (13-8) makes his final start of the season against Milwaukee on Friday. Seven of Bettis wins this season have come at Coors Field.Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (14-9) pitches the series opener against the Dodgers on Friday night. Bumgarner is winless over his previous four starts and has a 4.21 ERA during that span. ' ' '