Henrick Stenson wasn’t shouting it from the rooftops, but he felt confident that his time had come to finally win one of golf’s majors.
The 40-year-old Swede took The Open at Royal Troon on Sunday with a record 20-under, three clear of Phil Mickelson.
“I felt that this was going to be my time,” he said.
“It’s not something you want to run around and shout, but I felt that it was going to be my turn. I knew I was going to have to battle, but I think there was extra self-belief that made me go all the way this week.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I’m very happy. Very proud of the way I played and it was a great match with Phil.
“At this point I’m running on adrenaline, but it’ll get to the stage where I’ll struggle to make it up the stairs when I get back to the house!”
The fourth round was one of golf’s great duels as Stenson and Mickelson battled it out over 18 holes for the Claret Jug.
The pair produced some stunning golf and Mickelson’s total would have won the majority of Opens in history.
“It seemed like it was going to be a two-horse race and it was all the way until the end.,” said Mickelson.
“I knew he wasn’t going to back down at any point and that made it easier on me in a way because I had to keep on pushing myself and creating birdie chances.
“He wasn’t going to give it to me so I had to pull away and I’m just delighted I manage to do that with a couple of birdies at the right time on the final stretch.
“We managed to pull away from the rest of the field and we played some great golf. It makes it all the more special to beat someone like Phil who is certainly one of the greats to play the game in the last 20 years.
“To come out on top after such a fight with him over the four days makes it even more special.”
Stenson became the first Swede to win a major and he also revealed that he received a good-luck message from his compatriot Jasper Parnevik, who finished second twice at the Open.
“I feel very privileged to be the one that’s holding this trophy – many great players from my country tried and came very close,” he explained.
It's probably the best I've played and not won - Phil Mickelson
“Jasper twice in particular – he sent me a message telling me to go out and finish what he didn’t finish. I’m really proud to have done that and it’s going to be really big for golf in Sweden.”
A final-round of 63, outscoring rival Mickelson by two as the pair played some brilliant golf, saw the 40-year-old become only the second player ever to finish a major on 20 under par.
That equaled the record set by Jason Day in last year's US PGA Championship and beat the Open record of 19 under set by Tiger Woods in 2000.
He became only the second man to shoot 63 in the final round of a major, matching the feat of eventual winner Johnny Miller at the 1973 US Open at Oakmont.
His 72-hole total of 264 also beat the best in any major set by David Toms in the 2001 US PGA and was three lower than the previous Open record set by Greg Norman at Sandwich in 1993.
Mickelson said: "It's disappointing to come in second but I'm happy for Henrik. He's really a great champion.
"It's probably the best I've played and not won. I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a major. Usually that's good enough to do it - and I got beaten.
"I was just trying to birdie every hole, but it seemed like he was. I was just trying to keep pace.
"I had to make 30 or 40-footers just to try to keep pace with him, and wasn't able to do it there in the end."
