In a week where Rory McIlroy’s comments about growing the game of golf dominated pre-tournament coverage, golf could not have asked for a better spectacle than Sunday at Royal Troon if it wants to grow the game.

Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson engaged in a truly breath-taking contest over the weekend in Scotland that will live long in the memory. It was sad to see one of them go home empty-handed, and the American may have put in the best second-placed performance of all-time, finishing 11 shots ahead of third.

But it wasn’t to be with Henrik Stenson on the march. Perhaps the best indicator of how well the Swede played is that it even matches up favourably with Tiger Woods’ widely-regarded best ever performance, his 15-shot win in the U.S. Open in 2000. The field average that year was 17 over, meaning he beat that by 29 strokes. Stenson at this year’s Open shot 20-under with a field average of 9 over, also beating the field average by 29 strokes.

As Nick Faldo put it, it was “golfing perfection” and an inspiration for youngsters looking to get into golf.