Phil Mickelson was 16 feet away from a place in history he wouldn’t have to share with anyone.

Fans watched from a rooftop balcony. Royal Troon members strained to see out the window from the clubhouse behind the 18th green. Jack Nicklaus usually doesn’t watch golf on TV, but he made an exception for this moment.

In 436 majors held over the last 156 years, no one had ever shot 62.

That’s still the case. By a fraction of an inch.

“I want to cry,” Mickelson said.

Mickelson pointed his putter toward the hole and was ready to step into history Thursday in the British Open when his birdie putt turned sharply to the right at the mouth of the hole, just enough to ride the edge around the back of the cup and sit there, teasing him.

“You made a beautiful read and putt on that last hole but got absolutely stone-cold robbed,” Nicklaus said in a message on Facebook.

Mickelson plopped his hand on his forehead in disbelief. His caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, was so stunned that he fell over backward.