Phil Mickelson left with mixed emotions

It is one of those questions you never hope you have to answer but when asked if his Royal Troon disappointment was worse than the numerous others in his long career, Phil Mickelson responded with dignified good grace.

It helps, of course, that he has actually won five major championships, only 13 of the game's greats have managed better.

Yet Mickelson, 46, had just played some of the best golf of his illustrious career, a bogey-free final-round 65, and still come up short to the magic of Henrik Stenson as the sixth major that would have tied him with Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino slipped from his grasp.