Henrik Stenson Looks For A Mulligan In Qatar
By Les Bailey
Jul 16, 2014; Wirral, Merseyside, GBR; Henrik Stenson on the 18th tee during his practice round at The 143rd Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
The world’s number two golfer, Henrik Stenson comes to Doha this week looking to push the reset button on the start of his 2015 season. Stenson missed the cut in Abu Dhabi last week, and will give it another go this week at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Four of Stenson’s nine European Tour wins have come in the desert, and he hoisted the Mother of Pearl Trophy in 2006.
The 38 year-old Swede struggled in 2014 to find the form that made history in 2013 when he won the FedEx Cup title on the PGA Tour, and the Race To Dubai on the PGA Tour. He was quoted many times during the year saying that he didn’t have enough down-time to rest, and recover during the year-end break.
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Although Stenson missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship last week, he followed the first-round disaster with a solid four under par 68 on Friday to get to even par for the first two days, but missed the cut by one stroke.
"“At least I played better the second day than the first day,” joked the former European Number One.“Of course I hope to improve on last week’s performance this week.“It’s early in the year and a work in progress, but I felt like I played half decent out there.“I don’t know what the forecast is, but normally we get our fair share of wind here, which is part of the course defence and makes it play better.“I feel okay; I certainly have played better than I am doing, but I’m sure we can probably find a few times where we played worse, as well.”"
He did the same thing in 2014. After shooting a plus two total and missing the cut, he was able to get it to eight under par in Qatar, and finished at a respectful T 28 on the week.
One might think Stenson had a down year in 2014, not finding the winners circle until the last tournament of the year when he won in Dubai for a second consecutive season, but a look back at the numbers tells a much different story.
He was lost in the confusion at the end of the PGA Championship, and tied for the lead going to the back nine on Sunday. A couple of mistakes down the stretch cost him a run at his first major.
His worse finish in a major, was a T39 at the Open, but he tied for third place behind a solid Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst, and netted a T14 at Augusta. It was a pretty good major season for Stenson, he just ran into some hot players at the wrong time.
Henrik Stenson has enough money again, to last a life time, if he can stay away from Ponzi Schemes. At 38 years-old, one would think that winning a major championship is at the top of his to-do list.
At the end of the day, the world could care less about how many tournaments you have won in your career. Fans remember major championships, and the majors are what cement a legacy.
The organizers in Qatar have paired Stenson with Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia for the early rounds. This should be one of the premier pairings for the second stop on the Desert Swing, which gets underway on Wednesday morning.
Both The Big Easy, and Stenson are the only four-time winners in this region, and this should be a terrific group to watch.
"“It has been a good hunting ground – I guess I’ve figured out a decent way to play the course, and I’ve done some good scores over the years in windy conditions, as well,” added Stenson.“It sets up quite nicely in that way, and then of course it’s down to how well I can play here this week. The day before the tournament, it’s going to be some final practice and preparations and I’m going to head out there and see what we can do.“I’ve got a strong pairing with Ernie, second week now playing with Ernie, and Sergio is back in action, so we’ll have good fun out there. It’s a good group, so looking forward to it.“It’s just a good way for me to start off the season and I enjoy playing these weeks.”"
The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters is one of the rare events on the European Tour which kicks off on Wednesday, and has a Saturday finish. You can watch it on The Golf Channel.
Source: EuropeanTour.com