Playing his first top-level event following an eight-month layoff forced by leaving LIV Golf, Henrik Stenson is answering questions when a reporter asks about his driving average.
“My average?” says Stenson.
“Yeah, I shortened it to about 360 to make it easier on the boys.”
He is not finished. He has one more crack.
“My haul distance is probably about 290, I would say, with the driver.
“If I had one picture of you on the golf ball, I might be able to squeeze in 10 more.”
Consider Stenson’s lightheartedness, even after recent events. This week, the 2016 Open Championship winner is playing with PGA Senior Championship at Concession Golf Club in Florida, and in two rounds, he was tied for 26th. He’s calling it a “new chapter.” The thing is, though, Stenson probably wouldn’t be playing his first event with the over-50 gang if his game had gone a little differently last August.
He knows the details. He had been playing with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV since the third event of his first season in 2022, which he won. He was the captain of the team. Then he was out. He finished the last LIV Player Points event in 49th place in the individual rankingjust below close friend Ian Poulterand the 49th and worst fell.
“That’s the way it goes,” Stenson said, “but I had it all in my hands and I didn’t finish it the way I wanted to and I should have.
“Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. It doesn’t really matter who knocks you down or knocks you over with a shot. That’s just the nature of the sport. I have no one to blame but myself for not playing better in the last round.”
From there, he stopped. There were several conspiracies. in november, according to numerous pointshe paid fines with the distributed DP world tour due to his play in LIV, clearing a return. Earlier this month, he turned 50, making him eligible for senior events. Next week, he will play in the Legends tournament, the senior circuit of the DP World Tour. In August, he said a suspension imposed by the PGA Tour would end, meaning he could play the PGA Tour Champions. He will also try to qualify for the US Open and play in the US Senior Open and Senior Open.
But from last August until this week, Stenson didn’t play anywhere. He said he welcomed that, noting that since 1989, when he first started playing, he hadn’t taken more than five months off.
“Relaxed, refreshed,” Stenson said when asked what a professional does with eight months off.
“I’ve traveled the world for 28 years and I felt during Covid that it was kind of nice to have – you feel like you can land a little bit and have that little bit of extra time. I’ve felt the same way now.
“Maybe I needed more this time. I was definitely exhausted and I think being at home eating well, sleeping well, exercising, just getting back into a good routine has really helped and I’m in a much better place now than I was six months ago.
“Yeah, I feel like I needed a lot of time. As far as golf, like I said, I don’t think after 30 years you forget how to compete, but it might take you a few rounds to get back into it. Also, it wasn’t like I played my best golf when I went on kind of a longer layoff.”
This week, at the Senior PGA, Stenson is off to a good start. On Thursday, he shot an even-par 72. On Friday, he was twice as good and made the weekend. He said he has reconnected with old faces.
There was a time he thought maybe he didn’t want to play senior golf, but here he is.
“You never want to turn 50,” Stenson said.
“It beats the alternative, but yeah, time flies, doesn’t it?”
;)
