No rest for Phil Mickelson, who is hoping to stay sharp for upcoming PGA championship

Phil Mickelson will not have much time to stew about what will be remembered as one of the most confounding major losses of his career.

He shot 63 in the first round and 65 in the last and still lost the 145^th British Open Championship by three shots to Swede Henrik Stenson, who played out of his mind.

In a schedule mashed together because of next month’s Rio Olympics, Mickelson and the rest of golf’s nomads will convene next week in Springfield, N.J., for the PGA Championship.

It was at Baltusrol Golf Club in 2005 that Mickelson beefed up his majors resume, capturing the PGA a year after winning his first Masters. Weather delays forced a Monday finish, and Mickelson got up-and-down with a flop shot and beat Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn by one shot.

Twelve years older now, at 46, Mickelson has five majors — three Masters, one PGA, one British — but his opportunities for legitimate shots at championships are dwindling, which is why Sunday’s defeat at Royal Troon in Scotland was so painful.

When Mickelson missed making history in his chance at a 62 on Thursday, the San Diegan was disappointed but upbeat. On Sunday evening, he looked weary and deflated.

Of the quick turnaround for the PGA, which might not seem ideal, Mickelson said, “It doesn’t give me a chance to take time off per se. It forces me to keep my game sharp.”

Mickelson said he would be in Jersey City on Wednesday to promote the Teachers Academy for which he’s partnered with Exxon Mobil. While there, he plans to get in early preparation work at Baltusrol.

“I’ve got a lot of special memories going back to Baltusrol in ’05, and probably we don’t have a month to wait between majors is a good thing for me,” Mickelson said. “I’ll try to look at the positives and take that into Baltusrol and keep my game sharp over the next week or two, as opposed to going home and taking some time off.”

The appreciation for Mickelson’s accomplishments at Troon should be considerable. Had he won, he would have become the fourth-oldest major winner and the second-oldest in the Open behind “Old” Tom Morris. That’s remarkable company.

“He’s unique at 46,” said Colin Montgomerie, who is 53. “He’s still extremely competitive. You wouldn’t have said Tom Watson was competitive on the U.S. tour [at 46]. Phil Mickelson is. And that’s why he’s here. His short game the first two days was quite phenomenal.”

Mickelson darkly joked on Sunday night about the shots that didn’t fall. Everyone has them, but his from Troon are memorable. Beyond his birdie putt for 62 lipping out on Thursday, there was the wonderful pitch over a bunker at No. 2 on Sunday that spun out of the hole. At 15, Mickelson’s eagle putt dived less than an inch from the cup.

Those are three shots that, if made, would have gotten him into a tie with Stenson. Less dramatic were the very makable putts Mickelson missed on Sunday’s front nine.

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With such a fantastic finish, this Open’s fourth round will be remembered with some of the other great ones. The Scottish Sun tabloid immediately put 2016 at the top, followed by 1977’s “Duel in the Sun” at Turnberry, when Watson shot 65 in the fourth round to beat Jack Nicklaus by one.

The others: Paul Lawrie shooting 67 to win in 1999; Seve Ballesteros scoring 65 for a victory in 1988; and Greg Norman’s closing 64 that beat Nick Faldo in 1993.

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Stenson called his win “massive” for Swedish golf. There were a number of other talented Scandinavian male golfers who came before him, but none had been able to close a major.

Jesper Parnevik was among them, and Stenson said Parnevik messaged him before his round, “Go out and finish what I didn’t manage to finish.”

Stenson had obviously grown tired of hearing that his countrymen couldn’t get it done.

“It’s been there a long time,” he said. “I feel very privileged to be the one to hold this trophy.”

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The top four finishers at Troon were Stenson, Mickelson, J.B. Holmes and Steve Stricker. Their average age: 42.

It likely proves that Open Championship courses, which often put accuracy and short game at a premium over length, are still the most fair for all players.

Mickelson was asked Sunday to contrast the setup styles of the R&A with those of the U.S. Golf Assn., which stages the U.S. Open.

“I think the R&A sets the golf course up to be as fair as possible and to try to kind of identify who the best player is regardless of what the score is given the conditions and so forth,” he said. “Sometimes it’s 20 under. Sometimes people don’t get that many under par. But the fact is, if somebody plays some incredible golf, that’s what it should do. You shouldn’t have to mess with the course too much to try to control the score.

“The USGA has it in their mind that the score needs to be par, so no matter what lines they have to cross to get there, that’s got to be the standard, and it kind of disregards and doesn’t take into account the difference in talent level and abilities that the players of today now have.”

Mickelson said he prefers the British Open style.

“I think we all enjoyed it,” he said. “But I’m also biased because I’ve won this one and I haven’t won the other one, so I’ve got that working against me.”

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