Sport Book Service | The Open 2016: Henrik Stenson warns Phil Mickelson to watch for a raid after Open battle lines were drawn up at rain-hit Troon

HENRIK STENSON warned Phil Mickelson to watch for a Viking raid as the Open battle lines were drawn up last night.

The Swede says it is about time that golf had its first Scandinavian Major winner.

Credit: AP:Associated Press

Henrik Stenson is just one shot behind leader Phil Mickelson

Swede is desperate to see a Scandinavian Major winnerCredit: PA:Press Association

And he is delighted that Denmarks Soren Kjeldsen is also breathing down Mickelsons neck at the halfway stage.

Stenson grinned: I dont know if you could call Scandinavia a golfing powerhouse, but Sweden and Denmark, in particular, have created a lot of or produced a lot of good players on Tour for as long as I can remember.

So I guess its only natural to see a few Scandinavians up there, and Soren is obviously playing very well too. Maybe we need to combine forces against Phil!

Weve got Swedish House Mafia as a super-group, and we might have another powerhouse on the way. Well see. But its good to see some of the other Scandinavians playing so well.

World No6 Stenson clearly feels he is the Nordic standard bearer, especially after a sizzling second-round 65 propelled him to nine under par, just a shot behind the 36-hole leader.

Kjeldsen also shot up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 68 to join Mickelsons former Ryder Cup partner Keegan Bradley on seven under, with that quartet taking full advantage of the fact their half enjoyed the best of the weather.

Players had to battle tough conditions ahead of the weekendCredit: AP:Associated Press

Phil Mickelson has developed the perfect game for links coursesCredit: PA:Press Association

Stenson, 40, finished runner-up to Mickelson in the 2013 Open at Muirfield after finishing third on two previous occasions and has twice finished third in the USPGA Championship.

One of those near-misses came in 2014 at Valhalla named after the home of Odin, Thor and the other Norse gods. But maybe Troon could prove to be Stensons golfing heaven.

He knows he may not have too many more chances to break his duck, even though Mickelson is proving age is just a number by playing scintillating golf four year shy of turning 50.

Stenson commented: There have been a few Majors where Ive been right up there, and Muirfield was certainly one of them.

I remember I lipped out a birdie putt on ten in the final round, and I think that would have been tied for the lead. But then Phil had a great finish, and won the tournament, very deserving.

But theres been a couple of chances, and Im sure if things would have gone my way I could have had one or two of these already.

It hasnt happened for me so far, but if I keep putting myself in position and knocking on the door, I hope I get a couple of good breaks at the right times.

And I needed to get things going again, because I havent really been in contention for the last six Majors, and that has been really frustrating. Im 40 now, and Im not going to play these tournaments forever.

I dont have another 50 goes at them it might be a dozen or 15 in total.

So I came here thinking I better start putting myself in position and giving myself chances if I want to make it happen.

After six tournaments not being there, I felt like theres no time to waste.

But you have to go out and make it happen, because Phils the kind of player who is never going to back down.

Hes got a number of Majors and he wants to have another couple Im sure.

So hes going to keep on trying as hard as he can, and hes a great player.

Ive played a lot of golf with him this year. It feels like weve been out there every second week.

I enjoy his company and Im looking forward to the challenge.

Mickelson, who has won five Majors, showed there were no hangovers from the agony of missing out on the first 62 in a Grand Slam event on day one.

Danish golfer Soren Kjeldsen is also in the huntCredit: AP:Associated Press

He stretched his incredible bogey-free run to 30 holes before finally dropping a shot at the tricky par four 12th hole.

And after originally insisting he could not explain how his birdie putt for that magical number lipped out, he said he had made sense of it well, sort of after watching countless re-runs of that putt on his DVD.

Mickelson explained: On about the thousandth viewing it finally made sense. It looked like three or four inches short of the hole it hit something and kicked dead right.

I couldnt figure out how it missed. Obviously it hit something and sometimes that happens, unfortunately.

Now its all about trying to win the tournament.

I dont feel the pressure like a lot of players do to try to win the Claret Jug because Ive already won it.

I would love to add to it but winning it at Muirfield two years ago was big.