Henrik Stenson plays a shot on the 16th hole during the final round of the 145th British Open on Sunday in Troon, Scotland. Photo: CFP

At the age of 40, Henrik Stenson is hoping his long-awaited first major victory at the British Open on Sunday proves to be just the beginning.

Stenson had long been considered one of the best players on tour never to have won a major but he put that right in the most spectacular fashion at Royal Troon on Scotland's west coast.

His major championship record-equaling low round of 63, featuring 10 birdies, on Sunday saw him beat American Phil Mickelson by three strokes with an overall score of 20 under par, the lowest-­ever total at The Open.

"We're only just getting started, aren't we? You ­never know once you open the floodgates what might happen," Stenson said later as he spoke to the media alongside the famous Claret Jug.

The Swede said he had a feeling this would be his turn to win a major after seven  previous top-four finishes, including as the runner-up to Mickelson in the British Open at Muirfield in 2013.

Forty "is the new 30," he told Sky, and there was ­certainly something about the week for the older guard, with Mickelson, at 46, coming so close to being the oldest Open winner in nearly 150 years.

Meanwhile, the 49-year-old American Steve Stricker finished in fourth.

In contrast, the so-called "Big Four" of Dustin Johnson, 32, and twenty-somethings Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy never really challenged in Troon, even if the latter ended up in a tie for fifth.

Asked what he put that down to, Stenson replied, "I think the experience and the way links golf plays."

He also recalled Tom ­Watson's near miss at the age of 59 down the Ayrshire coast at Turnberry in 2009.

"So even a few guys that are a little bit older than I am have had success at the majors and at The Open Championship, but ­experience definitely plays a big part of it. Yeah, it was quite an old leader board for a change, I guess," he said.

It wasn't just Stenson's long overdue first ­major victory, it was a first ever for a Swedish men's player after some painful failures in past years.

Jesper ­Parnevik was the last top ­player to come out of the ­Scandinavian country prior to Stenson but his bogey at the last at Scotland's Turn­berry on the final day in 1994 cost him glory and he blew the lead on the Sunday at Troon three years later.