CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – Henrik Stenson was greeted by a completely different golf course at Cherry Hills when he returned Friday morning to finish the weather-suspended first round of the BMW Championship.
His first shot told him everything he needed to know about how the course’s chief defense will be down in the second round after a little more than a half-inch of rain fell over night
Stenson hit an 8-iron to No. 9, his last hole of the suspended round, and watched the ball land 12 feet from the flagstick and then spin backwards, racing 50 feet away from the hole.
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“It is going to be a different golf course,” Stenson said after two putting for par to close out a 2-under 68, leaving him one shot off the lead. “Yesterday, you couldn’t stop the ball. Today, it’s going to spin back.
“It is going to be easier.”
Stenson, winner of last year’s FedEx Cup, closed with a good par Friday morning. No. 55 in this year’s FedEx Cup standings, he needs every break he can get to assure he returns to East Lake in Atlanta next week to defend his Tour Championship title. He likely needs a finish of fourth or better this week to assure he’s among the top 30 in points who advance at the conclusion of the BMW Championship. Since the FedEx Cup was created, Brandt Snedeker, in 2013, is the only FedEx Cup champion who has made it to Atlanta the year after he won the cup in 2012.
Stenson two-putted for his closing par, but he had to make a 9-foot comebacker for par.
