Golden oldie Jack Nicklaus came off second best in golf’s great Duel in the Sun at Turnberry in 1977.

Now the Golden Bear reckons his epic showdown with Tom Watson is also playing second fiddle to the blockbuster at Royal Troon on Sunday.

Nicklaus watched on in wonderment as Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson produced a quite titanic tussle in the final round of the 145th Open.

Mickelson, the 2013 Claret Jug winner, hit a bogey-free 65 but even that wasn’t enough to beat super Swede Stenson who eventually won by three strokes with a magical 63 and a record crushing 20-under aggregate.

It was one of the greatest days in Major championship history and Nicklaus was full of praise for a contest that will live long in the memory.

The 18-time Major winner said: "Some in the media have already tried to compare the final round to 1977 at Turnberry. I thought we played great and had a wonderful match. On that day, Tom got me, 65-66. Our final round was really good, but theirs was even better.

I was fortunate to watch every second of the final round of the Open Championship and I thought it was fantastic.

“Mickelson played one of the best rounds I have ever seen played in the Open and Henrik Stenson just played better - he played one of the greatest rounds I have ever seen.

"Phil certainly has nothing to be ashamed of because he played wonderfully. Henrik played well from beginning to end. He drove the ball well, his iron game was great, his short game was wonderful and his putting was great. Henrik was simply terrific.

"To win your first major championship is something special but to do it in the fashion Henrik did it in makes for something very special and incredibly memorable. I'm proud of and happy for Henrik.”

It was high praise indeed at the end of a battle was quite rare in a Major championship. Stenson is 40, Mickelson is 46. The last time the final group in one of golf’s grand slam events consisted of two players over 40 was in the 1954 Masters, when Ben Hogan and Sam Snead fought it out for the Green Jacket at 41.

Stenson has finally moved from perennial contender to champion and nobody would grudge him this sweetest of Swedish successes after a series of close calls in the Majors.

Having bounded on to the main European Tour by winning three times on the second-tier Challenge Tour in 2000, Stenson won on his rookie season on the main circuit before slithering into the first of two career slumps, the second of which came just four years ago and saw him plummet to 230th in the world rankings.

Throw in the personal anguish of losing millions of dollars in Allen Stanford’s financial scheme – Stanford is serving 110 years in prison for fraud – and is his recovery has been even more uplifting.

"The second slump in my career was nothing compared to the one I had in the early 2000s," reflected Stenson, who had three top-three finishes in the Open down the years and was runner-up behind Mickelson at Muirfield in 2013. “I managed to put my game together with a lot of hard work and a lot of help from my team and support from my family and friends and everyone else,” he said. “If I didn't believe I wouldn't be sitting here. It's a dream come true. These were the big early memories I had a as a kid starting golf at 11. It was the Ryder Cup and the Open Championship. To hold this trophy is really amazing.”