Honda Classic: Henrik Stenson Having Huge Struggles in Florida

Henrik Stenson is having a rough couple of weeks in Florida. The former Open Champion had his struggles two weeks ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then last week at the Players Championship and has seen those struggles carry over to this week’s Honda Classic.

Stenson’s tough run started at the API where he opened with a 1-over par round of 73. He followed that with a 3-over par 75 to miss the cut.

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Last week at TPC Sawgrass, things got even worse for Stenson. He bombed in the opening round, shooting a 13-over par 85. He came back with a 2-over par 74 on Friday but, at 15-over through two rounds, was nowhere near the cut line.

Stenson was hoping to bounce back this week at the Honda Classic. And things did not start too badly for the 44-year-old. He parred his first hole before a bogey on the second. But he would par the next three holes and sat at 1-over par through five holes.

But the wheels started to come off on the par-4 sixth hole. There, Stenson hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker, then pulled his second shot into the water. After taking a penalty and a drop, Stenson pitched onto the fringe. He got down in two from there, but it was a double-bogey six, dropping him to 3-over on his round.

He followed that with a bogey at the seventh hole. He would finish his front nine with a 4-over par 39.

It was the back nine where Stenson’s round completely fell apart.

He parred the 10th hole but on the par-4 11th, he found trouble again. His tee shot found the rough and his second shot went into the water. After another penalty, Stenson’s fourth shot got him to about 12 feet but he missed the bogey putt and settled for his second double of the day.

Stenson would bogey the 12th hole to slip to 7-over on his round. He was able to par the 13th hole to stay at that number before finding more trouble.

On the 13th hole, Stenson hit another ball in the water, this time on his tee shot. After another penalty, his third shot got him into a greenside bunker. He pitched out from there, but needed two putts to record his third double bogey of the day.

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Stenson would bogey the par-3 15th hole to slip to 10-over par. Amazingly, he closed his round with two birdies but he still shot 78.

He was once a great champion, but Stenson’s game is way off at this point. He needs to fix what ails him, and in a hurry.

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