After an 11-year absence the Open Championship returned to Muirfield in 2013, where throughout the week firm and fast conditions combined with some inconsistent green speeds to make for some of the toughest golf in recent Open history.  It was a week filled with the usual Major championship dramas and sub-plots but after 54 holes it appeared that the two central protagonists were Lee Westwood – still in search of the Holy Grail that is a Major – and Tiger Woods, still trying, as yet in vain, to break a Major championship drought dating to 2008.  Unlike several recent Majors wherein he contended for 36 holes before fading, Woods hung tough for 54 holes this week, trailing Westwood by two going into Sunday’s final round – but in the end, victory would again remain beyond his grasp.  Three early bogeys (two via three putting) derailed his charge and by the time he gamely added desperation birdies at the 12th and 14th, the complexion of the tournament had lifted the Claret jug well beyond his reach.  Sadly, Westwood too would stumble, though not immediately.  He offset an early bogey at the 3rd with a birdie at the par-5 5th and still held his two-stroke lead through the 6th.  But when poor ball-striking led to bogeys at the 7th and 8th, then a par at the reachable par-5 9th, the momentum had shifted significantly.  Several missed birdie putts early on the inward half denied him some necessary momentum before a bogey at the par-3 13th essentially ended his chances.  He would ultimately tie for third.  With both Westwood and Woods tumbling, the door was left open for another to seize the moment, and several candidates stepped forward.  With a remarkable run of birdies at the 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th, reigning Masters champion Adam Scott actually surged briefly into the lead.  But a tee shot blown far right at the the par-3 13th led (despite a splendid recovery) to the first of four straight bogeys and, ultimately, a tie for third.  Henrik Stenson too would be heard from, carding birdies at the 1st, 3rd and 9th (against a bogey at the 8th) to move close to lead.  His charged ultimately died with bogeys at the 12th and 13th, though a late birde at the 17th would lift him to solo second in the end.  And so the stage was left for Phil Mickelson, he of U.S. Open heartbreak (again) a month earlier at Merion, and a man whose troubles adjusting to the vagaries of links golf have long been chronicled.  But armed with confidence gained from his Scottish Open triumph of the previous week, Mickelson began Sunday five behind Westwood  and quietly moved forward, birdieing both of the outgoing par 5s to turn in 34 and push himself firmnly into the fray.  A bogey at the long par-4 10th briefly slowed his charge but birdies at the 13th and the demanding 14th came just as others the other contenders were falling by the wayside, and a superb up-and-down at the par-3 16th kept up the momentum.  And then, with everything on the line, Mickelson delivered some of the grandest clutch golf in the history of the championship, reaching the 575-yard 17th with two gargantuan 3 metals (he carried no driver) and two-putting for birdie, then carving a 6 iron approach to with 10 feet at the demanding 18th and holing the curling right-to-left putt to clinch the title.  On so difficult a golf course, the magnitude of Mickelson's Sunday performance cannot be overstated, and it must surely rate among the greatest rounds in Open Championship history.  Indeed, among the 11 men who began the day with significant chances of winning, he was the only one to break 70 - and he did so by a resounding four shots!  Truly a championship performance for the ages.