TROON, Scotland -- Tiger Woods isnt the only player chasing Jack Nicklaus in the majors.So is Phil Mickelson.Only one of them has been making progress over the last four years. That isnt necessarily good news for Mickelson, but it should be.Mickelson did everything right in the British Open, only to watch Henrik Stenson do just a little better.They combined to deliver the greatest closing rounds by a final pairing in major championship history -- 63 for Stenson, 65 for Mickelson, on a day when the average score was 72.8. They had a better-ball score of 59. They walked off the 18th green at Royal Troon with their arms around each others shoulders, and given the intensity of the battle, they might have been keeping each other from collapsing.Stenson, the champion golfer of the year, received the silver claret jug.Mickelson not only received a silver platter, he took over sole possession of second place on golfs all-time list of runner-up finishes in the majors.Hes No. 2 at being No. 2The runner-up finish at Royal Troon was the 11th for Mickelson, one more than Arnold Palmer and still eight to go to catch Nicklaus.No one talks much about that record because Nicklaus is identified more with his 18 majors. Woods reached 14 majors in 2008 and was ahead of the pace set by Nicklaus until a fourth knee surgery, three back surgeries and one fire hydrant got in the way.Eight years later, Woods remains at 14 and hasnt played in nearly a year.Mickelson, who won his fifth major in the British Open at Muirfield three years ago, now has recorded a runner-up finish each of the last four years. Not even Nicklaus put together a streak of four straight years with the silver.This is not meant to cheer up Mickelson.He is 46, in his 25th year as a pro. He has been around long enough that losing stings, and it doesnt always matter if its self-inflicted. Is it easier to stomach knowing he played bogey-free than if he couldnt hit a par 3 with a pitching wedge?It was the second time that Mickelson posted the lowest score in any major, only for someone else to go lower. That was David Toms at Atlanta Athletic Club, who holed a 10-foot par putt on the final hole to beat Mickelson by one. And it was Stenson at Royal Troon, making 10 birdies in a round of 63 that even Johnny Miller admired.Im not sure how Im going to feel about that, Mickelson said. I played what I feel was well enough to win this championship by a number of strokes, and yet I got beat by three strokes. You know, its not like I have decades left of opportunities to win majors, so each one means a lot to me.I put in my best performance today. Played close to flawless golf and was beat, he said. So it kind of goes both ways. Im happy with the way I played, but even more disappointed that it wasnt enough because you look back and say, `What do I need to do?By now he should know the answer, because it has happened a lot.Sure, Mickelson erred by trying to hit 3-iron around a tree at Winged Foot and making double bogey on the 18th hole in the 2006 U.S. Open. The soft bogeys he made on the 13th and 15th holes at Merion cost him a shot at the 2013 U.S. Open. One can find other mistakes, but with the exception of Royal Troon, even the winner doesnt hit all the right shots.Whats impressive about Mickelson is that seven of his 11 runner-up finishes in the majors were by two shots or fewer.Nicklaus was a runner-up 19 times, but its not simple math to suggest he could have won 37 majors. In six of those, he finished three shots or more behind. The only time Mickelson was never a serious factor in the closing holes was when Jordan Spieth won by four shots at the Masters last year.Toms and Payne Stewart made par putts on him at the last hole. Mickelson made double bogey from the bunker on the 17th at Shinnecock Hills. A bogey on the 16th hole cost him at Valhalla when Rory McIlroy won by one shot, and a bogey on the 17th hole at Bethpage Black left Mickelson one shot behind in the 2009 U.S. Open.Should he have won more majors? Anyone, Woods included, can say that.To be in this conversation, and to have more runner-up finishes in the majors except for Nicklaus, means something is going right at least most of the time. Mickelson has posted scores of 266, 267 and 269 in majors and lost them all. That might be really tough to take if not for the five majors he has won.Mickelson doesnt see his window closing all that quickly. He wouldnt want Nicklaus other record, but it sure would be nice to be in a position to try. That means he has a chance at winning, and everyone should want that. Swell Bottle Uk Stockist . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Free Shipping Swell Bottle . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. http://www.swellbottlesuk.com/swell-17-oz-water-bottle-wholesale.html . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Swell Bottles Near Me . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Swell Bottle Sale Uk . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Carlos Gomez was a struggling outfielder when released by another AL West team just over a month ago. Now he is helping the AL-leading Texas Rangers close in on home-field advantage throughout the postseason.Gomez hit a towering, tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning Wednesday night, giving the Rangers their MLB-best 49th come-from-behind win, 8-5 over the Milwaukee Brewers.We believe in Carlos. We believed in him so much that we brought him not just as an experiment or anything like that, manager Jeff Banister said. Hes showing you exactly just how he can impact the game, and hes put in the work.The 418-foot homer to left was his 13th this season, the second long three-run homer in as many nights -- he had a 444-foot drive on Tuesday. That makes eight homers and 24 RBI in 31 games since joining the Rangers last month after being released by Houston.You see it the last two weeks, see the work Ive been doing, said Gomez, a two-time All-Star with Milwaukee. Work a lot, sooner or later you see a good result.Jeremy Jeffress (1-0), who came to Texas from Milwaukee in an Aug. 1 trade with Jonathan Lucroy, worked the final two innings in relief of Cole Hamels. Jeffress won five days after being reinstated by Major League Baseball from the restricted list following a drunken driving arrest last month and then a three-week stint in an inpatient rehab clinic.AL West champion Texas (94-65) has a 1 1/2-game lead over Boston for the best record in the American League after the Red Sox lost earlier Wednesday even while clinching the AL East title. Former Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a game-ending grand slam to give the New York Yankees a 5-3 win over the Red Sox, who led 3-0 in the ninth.Lucroy reached to start the eighth on a two-base error when the ball ricocheted off the glove of center fielder Hernan Perez.That one was like a knuckleball. It went left to right, and at the last minute moved to the left again, said Perez, playing only his fifth game in center field this season.Delino DeShields came on as a pinch-runner, and after Mitch Moreland walked against Corey Knebel (1-4), he scored the tying run when EElvis Andrus greeted reliever Tyler Thornburg with a single to center.ddddddddddddRougned Odor also homered for the Rangers, his 32nd a two-run shot in the first that snapped an 0-for-22 slide and put Texas up 3-2.Look, hes going to hit. The swing is there, hes one of our main guys, Banister said. But some feel-good for him.SHORT HOPSBrewers second baseman Jonathan Villar hit Cole Hamels first pitch of the game into the stands for his 19th homer, and the Brewers scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-3 lead. ... The Rangers got their 41st win from a reliever, matching the major league record set by the Dodgers in 1953.HAMELS CONSISTENCYHamels, the All-Star lefty expected to start the Rangers playoff opener Oct. 6, allowed five runs (three earned) over seven innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Hamels has thrown 202 2/3 innings, exceeding 200 innings pitched in the regular season for the eighth time in his career, and the seventh year in a row -- which will be the longest active streak in the majors since Chicago White Sox right-hander James Shields (nine) and Seattles Felix Hernandez (eight) will not extend their streaks this season. Hamels has exactly 200 strikeouts , his fifth 200-strikeout season.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: Shin-Soo Choo (fractured left forearm) will return to Texas on Thursday and could play this weekend to determine if hes ready for the playoffs. He played seven innings in right field and made six plate appearances in an instructional league game Wednesday, his third day in a row playing in Arizona. He was 2 for 5 with a two-run homer and a walk.UP NEXTBrewers: Lefty Brent Suter, a Harvard graduate, starts Friday in the series opener at California. Since allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings in an emergency start Aug. 19, Suter has pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings over 12 relief appearances.Rangers: After Texas final day off of the regular season, Yu Darvish (6-5) makes his final start before the playoffs Friday in the opener of a three-game weekend series against Tampa Bay. ' ' '