Vacation Watch: When Will The World’s Best Golfers Return To Action?

Henrik Stenson

It’s already spoiled that Stenson will be back in action on Jan. 19 in Abu Dhabi (heck of a field, huh?). Until then, the Swede is going to kick back and enjoy every minute of it.

“One round away from Christmas break,” Stenson said on Saturday at the Hero World Challenge. “So try to finish off in good style and enjoy that break, because I’ve had a great year and I’m looking forward to some time off.”

Like a giddy schoolboy ready to put down the books for a few weeks, Stenson was also quick with the jokes like always.

“All those trophies are dragging me down, really, and it’s hard to swim with all those on your back,” he said with a laugh. “No, it’s been a great year and I’m just going to take that time off to enjoy it and recharge for next year.”

All in all, it was a relatively light year for the traditional workhorse. Stenson teed it up 22 times worldwide in 2016, down from 25 last year, 31 in 2013 and his fewest since 2002. When he was on the course, though, he was almost always there for all four days in what was a career year.

In the past two years he opted to start with the UAE swing and came back west for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, slated for March 2-5 in 2017. For the man with a machine-like swing, I expect his elite status will allow him to continue to achieve such consistency in his schedule.