Henrik

Stenson

The 46-year-old Swede was not asked about the Saudi-backed tour last week while at The 150th Open, where he missed the cut. But on Friday, when asked about his upcoming schedule, he did reply: “Undecided.” The Telegraph report highlights specific language in his signed Ryder Cup contract that may affect his ability to keep his captaincy. The agreement states: “The successful candidate will be expected during his tenure to commit to support the Ryder Cup and the DP World Tour exclusively, and there, by extension, not supporting or promoting other properties [including, without limitation, other Tours, Leagues, Series or Competitions].” On the season, Stenson has made just four cuts in 13 PGA Tour starts, with a best finish of T-14 at the Zurich Classic. He’s made seven start in DP World Tour action, making four cuts and finishing T-2 at the Scandinavian Mixed in June. Visit the link below to read Golf Channel’s report on the situation.

The 22-year-old Swede, who came into the tournament ranked 156th on the Women’s World Golf Rankings, held the 54-hole lead by two shots Australia’s Jason Scrivener, and she closed out with an 8-under 64 for a nine-stroke victory. Grant went bogey-free over her last 39 holes at Halmstad Golf Club in Sweden and carded four rounds in the 60s to finish at 24-under 264. “I just hope that people recognize women’s golf, more sponsors go to the LET and hopefully this pumps up the women’s game a little bit more,” said Grant. “The crowds have enjoyed themselves,” said Stenson, who’s made four cuts in five DPWT starts this season. “I think the players have enjoyed themselves. Big thanks to everyone at Halmstad Golf Club. It’s been a fun week, especially for the Swedes playing in front of home crowds.”

The 46-year-old Stenson, who will play this week in the DP World Tour’s Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika at Halmstad GC, Tylosand, Sweden, was named alongside five other Swedes on Monday including Viktor H. Setterberg (posthumously), Erik Runfelt (posthumously), Liselotte Neumann, Liv Wollin and Sven Tumba (posthumously). The induction ceremony took place on Sweden’s National Day, with Stenson on hand for the opening of the Hall of Fame and the Swedish Golf Museum’s new exhibition at Landskrona Golf Club. “It is a great honor to be inducted into Swedish golf’s Hall of Fame,” said Stenson, who’s won six PGA Tour titles and 11 DP World Tour titles including the 2016 Open Championship. “I am incredibly proud of my career and can honestly say that the trip has so far surpassed all the dreams I had as a little junior.” Stenson finished T-33 in last year’s Scandinavian Mixed and is coming off a T-34 finish last week at the Porsche European Open. Sorenstam, who recently missed the cut at the 77th U.S. Women’s Open, will receive her award Monday, June 13, when her international girls’ junior competition, the ANNIKA Invitational Europe, begins at Vasatorps Golf Club in southern Sweden.

The 46-year-old Stenson, who will captain Team Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup, was in the headlines Monday after announcing Italy’s Edoardo Molinari as a vice captain for the matches, which will be played at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, set for Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2023. “I’ve known him for a long time, and he is obviously a Ryder Cup player himself,” said Stenson. “He is really into stats, and he works with a few of the players who will potentially be on my team. …With him being Italian, it is going to be an extra special week for him. I envisage Thomas (Bjorn, also vice-captain) and Edoardo as the working group that I will lean on for the foreseeable future. There will be a lot of healthy discussion and input between us.” On the season, Stenson has made two cuts in two starts in DPWT action, and he’s 4-for-11 on the PGA Tour, most recently missing cuts at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the PGA Championship. He’s made two cuts in eight starts at the European Open (2004, 2006), where he played last year for the first time since 2009 and missed the cut.

This will be the Englishman’s 15th start in the Zurich Classic as he has 10 made cuts and four top 10s to his name. Including a victory in 2015, where he shot 22-under and bested Cameron Tringale by a single stroke, Rose has a long history in New Orleans. Missing the cut in 2017, he has since finished T-19 and T-11 with Stenson by his side. He may need to rely on the Swede as Rose has been unable to make a cut in a stroke play event since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In addition to those finishes with Rose, Stenson also has a T-18 result in 2018 alongside Graeme McDowell. The recently named European Ryder Cup captain has found his ball-striking in recent months. Making his last three cuts on the PGA Tour, Stenson has regularly gained strokes from tee-to-green while falling short with the putter in hand.

The 2009 champ was 6-over thru 17 holes in R2 on Saturday (2 birdies, 8 bogeys), seven-over total when he called it quits (no reason provided at press time). This is his first mid-tourney WD in the tournament proper (16th appearance) and his sixth in 231 career events. The Central Florida resident, who opened with a 1-over 73 (3 birdies, 2 bogeys, 1 double), was headed for an eighth consecutive missed cut (dating to last season), last cashing a paycheck at the PGA Championship (T64) in May 2021. The World No. 205 is in the published field at next week’s Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Karl Stenson is about one month younger than Tiger’s son Charlie was in 2020 when he made his PNC debut. However, this week isn’t Karl’s first experience playing in a professional event: He played a practice round at the 2021 Scandinavian Mixed alongside Swedish hockey great Henrik Zetterberg and Swedish soccer star Henrik Larsson. The 45-year-old Stenson arrives at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., off a 19th-place finish at the Hero World Challenge, where he made headlines after he and playing partner Jordan Spieth used the wrong tee on the ninth hole at Albany GC and were penalized two strokes. Luckily, the two found the humor in the situation: “It was only two shots each, so it wasn’t a big deal,” deadpanned Stenson, NO. 175 in the world rankings. “My question was if we could just finish 19th and 20th (place) and leave after nine (holes), but that wasn’t an option, either.” He’s made two other starts in the fall season, missing the cut at the Mayakoba and Houston Open.

It will mark the third start in the new season for the 45-year-old Swede, who missed the cut at the Mayakoba and the Houston Open. But hopefully Stenson can draw on his past success at the Ernie Els-designed Albany Golf Club, where he’s finished inside the top five in three of his last four starts there. Along with his win in 2020, where he bested defending 2019 champion Jon Rahm by a shot, he also finished fourth in 2019 and second in 2017. At the 2020 event, Stenson became the third non-American winner of the Hero World Challenge in the past four years and ended a personal win drought dating back to the 2017 Wyndham Championship. He secured the victory thanks to an eagle on the par-5 15th, where he hit a 5-wood from 259 yards to within 8 inches and broke up a four-way tie for the lead. Last season, Stenson made six cuts in 18 starts and was 187th on the FedExCup standings. He also played on the European Tour (8-for-14), where he notched two top-five finishes in consecutive events in August.

The 45-year-old Stenson has appeared in five matches (2006, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2018) and holds a 10-7-2 overall record (3-2-1 in singles). He also has the distinction of holing the winning putt for Europe at The K Club in his Ryder Cup debut. But Harrington noted that the Swede, a member of three winning European teams, brings more to the table than his solid record: “Everyone is aware that the Ryder Cup can be a tense week at times, too, so Henrik’s renowned wit and sense of fun will benefit our team room immensely. It will also be helpful to have the cool head of the ‘Ice Man’ around should any stressful situation emerge.” The 2016 Open Championship winner said he accepted Harrington’s invitation “straight away,” and described the Euro squad as strong thanks to its mix of nine Ryder Cup veterans and three rookies. “It’s a mix of huge experience along with three guys who will take on their first Ryder Cup -- and that’s a great combination,” said Stenson, who “We have strength in depth so I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing the boys perform. It’s no secret that winning on away soil is always a little bit harder, but the boys are ready for that challenge. It’s all going to come down to how well we play during the week, but I have every faith in our team.”

The 45-year-old Stenson, who is playing his fourth consecutive week on the European Tour, has been trending in the right direction since his missed cut at the 149th Open. After a brief break, he returned to finish T-4 at the D+D Real Czech Masters, solo third at the Omega European Masters and was T-15 last week at the DS Automobiles Open. “We’ll see. There might still be something to play for,” said Stenson, who has a 10-7-2 overall record in Ryder Cup play. “A win here might change some minds, who knows, but I’m just going to go about this tournament like I would normally and try and prepare well and go out and do my job and we’ll see where it takes us. It has been nice to be in contention a few weeks as of late and play a little bit better, but we still haven’t been quite where we want to be or need to be. Hopefully the work that we do will keep trending in the right direction and we can have a strong finish on this little European Tour I’ve been on, four weeks in Europe.” The 11-time ET winner has made seven cuts in 13 starts this season, and he was 6-for-18 in PGA Tour action this season. In 13 previous appearances at the BMW PGA, Stenson has made 10 cuts with three top 10s including a T-3 in 2017. He was T-17 in his last start at Wentworth Golf Club in 2019.