Stenson – ‘I can beat the best’

Henrik Stenson is hoping his TPC triumph will provide the spur to improve on his poor record at the BMW PGA.
Henrik Stenson’s superb victory at the Players Championship in Florida makes him the highest-ranked player in the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this week.
But to climb even higher than his current fourth place – behind Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia – Stenson needs to improve a very modest record in this event.
In eight previous appearances Stenson’s best finish was eighth two years ago – and he was never in contention that week.
“It’s a classic old golf course. There’s a lot of history and tradition here,” said the 33-year-old Swede.
“It’s a course I like playing. I haven’t done my best in the past, but obviously I hope to change that this year.
“Winning at Sawgrass was the highlight of my career so far. I was just happy to play such a great last round (a 66 to turn a five-shot deficit into a four-stroke win).
“I stayed focused and composed and hit the right shots at the right time and made the putts. I guess I might have made it look a little bit easier than it was.”
It made Americans take notice of him for something other than stripping down to his underpants to play a shot out of the mud in March.
There have been some enquiries about using that incident for advertising purposes and Stenson added: “I guess it kind of built more attention about me as a person.
“Then I guess I confirmed the fame with the win at TPC, so I’m sure there might be some benefits in the end.”
And they will be welcome as Stenson has been hit hard by the Sir Allen Stanford financial situation.
He refuses to divulge how much he might end up losing in that, but was able to joke: “I think without that I would have won The Players by five probably.
“It’s obviously not something that I have any answers for. It’s just one of those things – it could take six months or two years before we know what the outcome is going to be.
“The first couple of weeks (after it happened) you spend some time thinking about what the outcome might be, but after that I felt I needed to focus on my game. I kind of let it go.
“It’s been tough for everybody regardless of where you have your investments. But it’s more a question of getting back to business and do whatever you’re good at.”
Stenson has all doors open to him now and is considering taking up membership of the US Tour.
“We’re going to look at the scheduling and so on,” he said.
He already has a base at Lake Nona in Florida.
Winning on Sunday would probably lift him only above Garcia to third in the rankings, but, important though that is, he is more focused on preparing for the upcoming majors.
Stenson was third at The Open behind Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter last year, then fourth in the USPGA.
“I don’t know if you can expect to win a major, but I sure hope so and it’s a dream of mine,” he added.
“At least I know I can win against the best players in the world.”
His victory two weeks ago brought message of congratulations for Greg Norman and his wife Chris Evert, among others.
“My wife and I are good friends with his daughter Morgan.”
Stenson and his family celebrated his success in the Bahamas last week, but now it is back to business.
Latest
-
News
On this day in 2008: Ryder Cup misery in Louisville for Nick Faldo’s Europe
Faldo was heavily criticised for his tactics in the closing singles.
-
Lucas Glover edges past Patrick Cantlay to claim back-to-back Tour wins
Glover, 43, ultimately claimed victory with a par on the 18th hole playoff after Cantlay found water off the tee.
-
Lilia Vu wins second major as Charley Hull comes up short despite stunning eagle
American Vu added the Women’s Open title to her Chevron Championship.
-
Lucas Glover holds onto lead in Memphis with Tommy Fleetwood two strokes behind
Glover said it was a scrappy day but he got ‘a lot out of’ what he had.
-
Charley Hull shares lead with Lilia Vu heading into final day of Women’s Open
The pair are nine under for the tournament.
-
On This Day in 2007 – Tiger Woods claims 13th major with victory in Oklahoma
The world number one successfully defended his US PGA Championship title.
-
Ally Ewing out to emulate Brian Harman with Open win
The pair share their southern roots, passion for hunting and college teams named the Bulldogs.
-
Ally Ewing storms clear during second round of AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath
At 10 under par Ewing enjoyed a five-shot lead over compatriot Andrea Lee and Japan’s Minami Katsu.
-
Jordan Spieth leads by one after first round of FedEx St Jude Championship
England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai are the best of the British contingent, closing out Thursday on four under par.
-
Rory McIlroy delighted with Tiger Woods’ role on PGA Tour’s policy board
Woods, 47, has not played since withdrawing from April’s Masters and concedes his playing opportunities will be extremely limited going forward.