Phil Mickelson: 'Finishing second at The Open tough to take'

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.