Open champion Henrik Stenson feels the spirit of his late friend Michael Gerbich helped him claim the first major title of his career at Royal Troon on Sunday. Stenson produced a stunning final round to get his hands on the famous Claret Jug, fending off the challenge of Phil Mickelson and finishing with a score of 20 under par - the joint-lowest in major history, equalling Jason Days record from the 2015 PGA Championship.In the aftermath of his victory, Stenson dedicated his performance to the memory of Gerbich, who lost his battle with cancer on the eve of the tournament at the age of 74. Stenson says the desire to win for his close friend provided him with extra motivation.I felt he was out there with me. He was a really keen golfer and always followed us, not just me but some of the other tour players out in Dubai, the Swede told Sky Sports News HQ.He always sent me messages and I just felt he was out there with me. I was really trying an extra bit harder for him as well and it was really special to win, given that as well. The studio look back at the battle between Stenson and Phil Mickelson on an epic final day at Royal Troon Stensons stunning final round of 63 was the joint-lowest in major history, with his final score of 264 the lowest winning total for any 72-hole major championship.When asked what winning a major meant to him, Stenson added: Its to have your name with the greats and the past champions.Its something quite special to be the first male Swede to win a major championship and for it to be the icing on the cake for my career. Tom Watson believes Stensons duel with Mickelson was similar to his shoot out with Jack Nicklaus in 1977 I have won some nice trophies and tournaments all around the world, the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai, but a major championship was missing. But I am holding it now, so I am very pleased.His battle with Mickelson also evoked memories of the Duel in the Sun between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977, and Stenson says he enjoyed every minute of it. He added: You always enjoy the punches, dont you? Better than Duel in the Sun? Jack Nicklaus has hailed Sundays final-round battle at The Open… It was kind of the same on Saturday, we were going head-to-head for the whole weekend and I think it just brought the best out of both players.We played some extraordinary golf and at the start yesterday there were birdies and eagles. I finished off with some great birdies on the way home, so it was a very memorable day for me on the golf course. Also See: Stunning Stenson wins Open I felt this was my time Monty staggered by Stenson The putt that won The Open Bobby Evans Rams Jersey . The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. Gerald Everett Rams Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic...ns-rams-jersey/. -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. Tyler Higbee Youth Jersey . - The Green Bay Packers got back to work on Friday without star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Tyler Higbee Rams Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. SOCHI, Russia -- The ashes of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke were spread in the Olympic halfpipe, high on a mountain above it and also near the Olympic rings in the athletes village. Burke, considered a pioneer for the introduction of halfpipe and slopestyle into the Winter Games, died following a training accident in Utah in January, 2012. Freestyle coach Trennon Paynter from Squamish, B.C., says he distributed the ashes in the halfpipe prior to the competition. "That was a little bit of a stealth mission," Paynter said Saturday. "I feel pretty good about knowing Sarah was all over these Olympics in our hearts and quite literally too." Burke was a four-time X Games champion and a driving force behind the inclusion of both halfpipe and slopestyle in the Sochi Olympics. She spent her early years in Barrie, Ont., but was living in Squamish when she died. Burke competed against men until there was a womens event. A leading contender for gold in Russia, she died at age 29 two years before her sports introduction into the Winter Games. Paynter went alone on a gondola as high as he could on the mountain above Rhosa Khutor Extreme Park to leave some of Burkes ashes there. The urn he carried was also in a freestyle team picture at the Olympic rings in the athletes village. Prior to the start of womens freestyle halfpipe Thursday at Rhosa Khutor, volunteers slid down the course in a heart-shaped formation in memory of Burke "This event really, I feel, had Sarah at the core of it in so many ways," Paynter said. Australiian snowboarder Torah Bright, who won Olympic halfpipe gold, in 2010 was incensed the International Olympic Committee would not allow her to wear the "Sarah" stickers on her helmet and snowboard that she sports in other competitions.dddddddddddd "The sticker thing for us was really no big deal," Paynter said. "We knew the way the protocols worked here. We knew for a couple of years we wouldnt be wearing stickers here. The rest of the season, I have Sarah stickers all over my stuff." Burkes husband Rory Bushfield and Paynter are friends and the two had discussed a plan to bring her ashes to the Winter Games in Sochi. The Canadian Olympic Committee provided a glass container and Paynter carried the container in a leather holster with Burkes name on it. During a quiet moment on the first training day, Paynter was able to "poach a couple pipe laps." "I know Sarah wanted to get some hits in the pipe so she got those," he said. The freestyle skiers won seven medals in Sochi and the most by one sport on the Canadian team. Canada also won a pair of medals in ski cross and while the international governing body of skiing considers it a freestyle discipline, Alpine Canada administers it domestically as a speed sport. Although the Canadian women finished off the podium in halfpipe, Mike Riddle of Sherwood Park, Alta., took silver in the first mens event. "Shed just be thrilled with everything from Mike winning a medal to the women just performing at such a high level," Paynter said. ' ' '