Back in His Prime

HENRIK STENSON
SOMETIMES life just isn’t fair. Sometimes the stuff a man has been able to accomplish with ease
becomes difficult and challenging. Sometimes a professional golfer begins to slide towards oblivion for
no obvious reason.
Of course he recovered his balance, reignited
his game and began an upward curve that
took him into the 2006 and 2008 Ryder Cup
teams. All was well in Henrik’s world.
And then once again with the alarming
abruptness of an unexpected thunderstorm,
the man from Gothenburg lost whatever
he had rediscovered. Confused, probably
frightened, he began to slide. From fourth
in the world rankings he moved to outside
the top fifty. Then he lost his grip entirely.
By the time 2012 dawned he was not even
in the top 200. Few expected to see him
recover. Surely it was simply too far a
plunge too swiftly.
After all he had not only lost his way as
a golfer he had lost his go-to money, the
reassuring treasure chest he had built up
over several years of high-octane success.
A victim of fraud his problems were big and
apparently getting bigger. Time, clearly, for
those of us who pay close attention to the
old game to review with regret a career that
had imploded.
The money loss did not help of course
but it was a series of niggling injuries on
top of a dramatic loss of confidence that
contributed most to his problems. Yet while
the rest of the world idly wondered where
he was and then forgot about him, Stenson
began to work even harder than before.
Boosted by the support of his wife Emma
and the ongoing encouragement of his
swing coach Pete Cowen he grafted on the
practice range.
11
MÅNDAG 18 NOVEMBER 2013
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Golf. Europatouren
Strålande
Stenson
– nu fattas
bara majorn
Världstrean Henrik Stenson är den förste att
vinna både USA-tourens slutspel och Europatourens penningliga samma år. Foto: Karim Sahib/AFP
Nu är det dags att strunta i traditionerna.
Efter Henrik Stensons magiska sommar
och höst och den nästan overkliga avslutningen av tourfinalen i Dubai, är det dags att
belöna honom med Bragdguldet.
väl bäst till efter VM-guldet på femmilen i Val di Fiemme.
Sättet Olsson vann på var utan
tvekan en bragd.
Inblick golf
Hans Jansson
Reporter
O
m några veckor ska
Svenska Dagbladet
dela ut priset till
den som utfört
årets främsta
svenska idrotts-
bragd.
Skidåkaren Johan Olsson ligger
Men Stenson har ett halvår som
också är en bragd.
Det började en söndag i mitten
av juli när han kom trea i Skottland.
Därefter var han tvåa i British
Open och trea i amerikanska PGAmästerskapen.
Senare vann han två av de
avlutande tre tävlingarna på USAtourens slutspel.
I en upphaussad ledarboll spöade han världsettan Tiger Woods
med hela nio slag.
Sex höjdare 2014. Här är tävlingarna att vinna
US Masters
○ Datum: 10–13 april.
○ Bana: Augusta National, Georgia.
○ Titelhållare: Adam
Scott, Australien.
○ Stensons placering
2013: 18.
○ Årets första major.
Tävlingen är unik så
till vida att den alltid
spelas på samma bana.
Inte Stensons favorit-
tävling, två delade 17:e
platser som bäst.
The Players
Championship
○ Datum: 8–11 maj
○ Bana: TPC Sawgrass,
Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida
○ Titelhållare: Tiger
Woods, USA.
○ Stensons placering
2013: 5.
○ Tävlingen har den
högsta prissumman
och kallas ibland den
femte majorn. Stenson
vann TPC 2009 efter
en magisk slutrond.
US Open
På papperet är Henrik Stenson
trea i världen, men i verkligheten finns det ingen som spelar
bättre golf än vad 37-åringen från
Göteborg gjort de senaste de sex
månaderna.
På söndagen skrev han alltså
historia genom att bli den förste att
vinna både USA-tourens slutspel
och Europatourens penningliga
samma år.
Tveklöst svensk herrgolfs största
framgång hittills.
Han vann säsongsfinalen i Dubai
med sex slag efter en slutrond på
64 slag.
En bättre slutvinjett från racet i
öknen var svår att uppnå.
Henrik Stenson avslutade med
ett fantastiskt inspel från 270
meter – och var bara ett par decimeter från en albatross – tre slag
under hålets par.
Det är svårt att jämföra idrotter
med varandra men i jämförelse
med skidor är golf en global sport
med ofattbara prispengar.
3
Henrik
Stensons
placering
på världsrankningen
○ Stensons placering
2013: 21.
○ En topp 10 på sju
starter. Många rankar
US Open som den
största tävlingen.
Fakta. Henrik Stenson
Foto: Matthew Childs/Bildbyrån
Back in His Prime
So it has been on two occasions for Henrik
Stenson. Eleven years ago the Swede
with the hard, staring eyes found himself
floundering just a couple of seasons into his
European Tour career. Despite a victory in
the Benson & Hedges International in 2001
to endorse his talent, just a year later he
seemed to be heading for a very big door
cruelly marked Exit.
Född: 5 april 1976, i Göteborg.
Bor: Orlando, Florida.
Familj: Hustrun Emma, barnen Lisa
och Karl.
Meriter: Segrare av PGA-slutspelet
(Fedex Cup) och Europatourens
penningliga 2013. Fyra segrar på
USA-touren (inofficiella VM i matchspel 2007, Players Championship
2009, Deutsche Bank Championship 2013, PGA-tourfinalen 2013,
sex segrar på Europatouren, vann
inofficiella VM för tvåmannalag med
Robert Karlsson 2008. Var tvåa i
British Open i juli och trea i PGAmästerskapen i augusti 2013.
Prispengar: Cirka 250 miljoner kr.
Mickelson, USA.
○ Stenson placering
2013: 2.
○Det
äldsta mästerskapet och den major där
svenskarna lyckats bäst.
Förutom andraplatsen i
somras har Stenson två
tredjeplatser.
Inklusive bonuspengar har
Stenson tjänat en bra bit över 120
miljoner kronor i år och sedan tillkommer lukrativa reklamkontrakt.
Det är lätt att fokusera på pengar
när det handlar om golf, men utan
kärlek till sporten – och framför allt
det hårda arbete som Stenson lagt
ner – går det inte att lyckas.
Skidåkare har belönats av bragdjuryn så många gånger att man
tappat räkningen. Golf har fått det
prestigefulla priset en enda gång,
Annika Sörenstam 1995, året då
hon vann sin första av tio majors.
Henrik Stenson har ännu ingen
major under bältet och kanske är
det den bristen som fäller honom
i kampen om Bragdguldet med
Johan Olsson.
Om nu inte Zlatan hittar på något i VM-kvalet mot Portugal.
hans,[email protected]
dn.se/sport ”Det vore dumt av
mig att säga att jag spelat bättre” .
Läs vad Stenson säger om segern.
○ Bana: Valhalla GC,
Lousville GC, Kentucky.
○ Titelhållare: Jason
Dufner, USA.
○ Placering 2013: 3.
○ Har inte samma
status som de övriga
majortävlingarna, men
Stenson har varit fyra
och sexa.
september.
○ Bana: Gleneagles,
Skottland.
○ Titelhållare: Europa
(2012).
○ Prestigematchen
mellan Europa och USA
är ett av de största
idrottsevenemangen
i världen. I år jagar
Europa tredje raka
segern.
Swedish
newspaper Dagens Nyheter:
Britishnational
Open
“Brilliant Stenson
- now only
a Major remains”
PGA-mästerskapet
Ryder Cup
○ Datum: 12–15 juni
○ Bana: Pinehurst No
2, Norh Carolina.
○ Titelhållare: Justin
Rose, England.
○ Datum: 17–20 juli.
○ Bana: Royal
Liverpool, Hoylake,
England.
○ Titelhållare: Phil
○ Datum: $'±$*
augusti.
○ Datum: Den 26–28
Hans Jansson
—4'
Henrik celebrates with his family
12
Number One in The 2013 Race to Dubai 13
Those hard eyes may have been focussed
on a suddenly very distant horizon but as
his work progressed so too did Stenson’s
belief that within him he still had the seeds
of greatness. Golf may be contrary but
Henrik Stenson is stubborn. Something had
to give and eventually it was the game that
gave way to a man who simply refused to
accept his apparent fate.
INVESTIGATION
INSIGHT
ACTION
He signalled his refurbished intent the week
before The Open Championship with third
place at the Aberdeen Asset Management
Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. A week
later those of us listening for it, heard his
trumpet loud and clear again at Muirfield
where he finished second.
Henrik with caddie Gareth Lord
From Scotland he flew back to America and
another second place, this time in the WGCBridgestone. He followed this up with third
in the US PGA Championship. By now the
trumpet had turned into a full-blown horn
section backed by a couple of drummers.
You had to be very deaf indeed not to hear
the sound of something extraordinarily
special happening for Stenson.
The man who had found himself nowhere
was suddenly somewhere again.
And so it went on. Relentless doesn’t quite
capture how this golfer has performed
since those reassuringly emphatic days of
high summer in Scotland. He won twice in
the United States, dominated their Fedex
Cup play-offs and more than filled that
treasure chest again. He returned to The
European Tour and stomped his authority
all over The Race to Dubai. Elsewhere
you may read the detail of his final,
pulsating victory at the DP World Tour
Championship, Dubai and his elevation to
European Number One as well as third in
the World Rankings. Suffice to say here
that his play over this climactic week was
breathtaking in its considered intent and
clinical execution.
Runner-up in the 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield
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Number One in The 2013 Race to Dubai 15
“His ball-striking has been as good as
anyone I’ve ever seen, “ said Luke Donald.
“Probably as good as Tiger in his prime.”
Ian Poulter, meanwhile, chipped in with “he
is the best player on the planet right now.”
These references endorse what has been
the golfing comeback of my lifetime. Not
bad for a chap who did not even really
know golf existed until he was 12 years old
and a friend invited him along to a practice
range. Until then Stenson’s passions had
been football and badminton but there was
something about this other strange game
that intrigued him.
Hooked, he began to caress a lifetime habit
by practising diligently every day. It turned
out he had an instinctive ability but there
were many other Swedish teenagers far
ahead of him and no-one really took a lot of
notice of this late starter. He was pushing
eighteen before he made scratch. Few
outside his immediate family paid much
attention to this achievement although one
coach was sufficiently impressed by his
powerful ability to drive the ball long and
straight to offer a compliment. “That girl is
really strong, “ he told onlookers. Stenson
admits he had very long hair at the time.
So he cut his hair, made the Swedish
national team and decided he wanted to
play golf for a living. By 2000 he was on
the European Challenge Tour. It’s a tough
circuit and it swiftly tells a young man if he
has got what it takes to take the next step.
Three victories that year and the Number
One ranking endorsed Stenson’s credentials
and secured his place on The European
Tour. He was off and very soon running
with that first B&H win. Then he stumbled.
“I never really doubted my ability but
obviously it can be frustrating when you
go through long periods where you don’t
perform the way you know you can. But
when you don’t deliver the only recipe is hard
work and trying to make things simple,“
he has said. “When you feel you are
struggling then it’s no fun. You’re travelling
halfway across the world and feel like
you’re going into a Formula One race and
you’ve only got second gear. It’s like how
much fun is it going to be to fight it out like
crazy for thirtieth place?
“When you’ve been out here as long
as I have and have won a number of
A first European Tour title - the 2001 Benson & Hedges International Open
Winner Challenge Tour Rankings - 2000
Henrik with wife Emma at The 2008 Ryder Cup Gala Dinner
16
Celebrating Europe’s winning putt in
The 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club
Number One in The 2013 Race to Dubai 17
Winner - 2013 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and FedExCup
tournaments then that’s the buzz you’re
looking for – of being in contention. You
know you’re never going to win all the
time but you want to feel you’ve got that
chance.”
This is an eloquent description of the task
facing all players and further evidence that
Stenson is a man who considers properly
not just golf but life itself. At thirty-seven
he is back in his prime. He is also a father,
his son Karl toddling out to greet him on
the final green in Dubai, his daughter Lisa
waving happily from the side.
Naturally, he says he finds it hard to leave
this family for long stretches but he also
admits that he remains something of a
child himself at times. His reputation as a
practical joker is, if anything, even bigger
than as a professional golfer. It’s silly stuff...
pens that give their holders an electric
shock, practice balls that are super-glued
together, that sort of thing. Like many
Swedes he goes through much of life
seeing the potential humour in a discarded
banana skin. Maybe it is all those long, dark
nights they endure in Scandinavia. “You
never grow up – you just learn how to act in
public, “ he smiles by way of explanation.
He can often look remote and eerily
cocooned in his own mysterious bubble
when he is playing but away from the cut
and thrust of high competition he is by
instinct an amiable and approachable man,
someone who enjoys removing this mask
18
Henrik soaks up the celebrations after his DP World Tour Championship, Dubai victory
of concentration and joining in the banter
that helps everyone survive the rigours of a
travelling life.
Winner - The Heritage on The 2004 European Tour International Schedule
His home town of Gothenburg has long
since been left behind. For ten years he
lived in Dubai before moving to Florida
in 2012 but each winter he returns to his
Swedish cabin with his family to play in
the snow. “We have a large extended
family with siblings, parents and cousins
that often come to see us wherever we are
in the world. The house is always full of
family, friends and coaches. It’s a family
affair,” he enthuses.
Now as he carefully digests the enormity
of his achievements in 2013, as he savours
a glittering return to the game’s high table
and relishes participation once more in
The Ryder Cup in 2014, he can turn his
formidable mind to the next big task. “It has
been an incredible summer for me, a dream
season. A major next year would be the
icing on the cake. How did I do it this year?
I succeeded in staying in the moment and it
just turned out to be a very long moment.”
There is much more to Stenson’s success
than this explanation, of course but for
now it will have to do. Sometimes it
seems that a man has to move a very
long way back before suddenly making
huge strides forward.
Bill Elliott
Golf Monthly
HENRIK STENSON - FACTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Became European Tour Number One for the first time.
Follows compatriot Robert Karlsson (2008) in becoming the second Swede to
finish European Tour Number One.
Enjoying Europe’s
2006 Ryder Cup triumph
THE 2013 RACE TO DUBAI
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
1 HENRIK STENSON4,103,796
2 Ian Poulter
3,172,729
3 Justin Rose
2,665,376
4 Graeme McDowell
2,420,306
5 Jamie Donaldson
2,181,113
Fifth Continental European to be European Number One following Seve
Ballesteros (1976, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1991), Bernhard Langer (1981, 1984),
Robert Karlsson (2008) and Martin Kaymer (2010).
6 Victor Dubuisson
2,031,675
7 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño
1,767,156
8 Richard Sterne
1,687,014
First player in European Tour history to win the Challenge Tour Rankings (2000) and
be crowned European Tour Number One (2013).
9 Thongchai Jaidee
1,585,521
10 Thomas Björn
1,546,736
First golfer to complete DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and The Race to
Dubai / TOUR Championship and FedExCup double.
Number One in The 2013 Race to Dubai 19