| Henrik Stenson wins the Players Championships at Sawgrass in style |
| Tuesday, 12 May 2009 | |
|
Henrik Stenson informed American golf fans that he had
arrived to compete seriously with his much talked-about shot out of the mud in
his underpants at Doral in March.
But the inscrutable 33 year-old from Gothenburg served notice that he was much more than a comic turn as he deftly lifted the most prized trophy on the US PGA Tour at The Players’ Championship in Sawgrass. A winner’s cheque for £1.2 million and a shoo-in to the #5 position in the Official World Golf Ranking table coincidentally makes Mr Stenson the most successful current student of Phil Kenyon – Yes! Golf European Tour rep and Director of Instruction for the Harold Swash Putting Schools. Kenyon and Stenson started working together on the Tour player’s putting at the British Open last year, where he finished 3rd, his best finish in a major to date at that time. The relationship has produced some steady results since and Phil joined the Swede recently in America at the Shell Houston Open to continue their work. Yes! Golf remains one of the most eccentrically successful golf equipment brands on the Tour. A minnow compared to the massively budgeted major club manufacturers, the C-Groove concept first conceived by Harold Swash remains quite inimitable. The relationship between Yes! Golf and The Harold Swash Putting Schools organization is an unshakeable family bond and offers Tour players (and club golfers now too) superb consistency in putting methodology, as well as an ultimate knowledge of the Yes! Putter technical advantages. The headquarters of the Harold Swash Putting School, where Phil Kenyon is based, is a state of the art putting studio. Located in Southport, England. Here, not only can amateurs or playing professional visit to hone their technique but teaching professionals can attend seminars as part of their ever growing Accredited Instructor scheme. Sawgrass saw Stenson produce the round of his golfing life, and one of best rounds of the year by anyone, anywhere, shooting a flawless 66, six under par, to win by four shots from his Ryder Cup colleague Ian Poulter, who later commented on Stenson’s performance: "That was a hell of a round. The greens were icy fast, so to shoot 66…well, as I said; unbelievable." With the greens and fairways at Sawgrass baked solid by the Florida heat, it required ball-striking and putting of the very highest quality to break par, reported Lawrence Donegan from The Guardian. Stenson produced both – and then some. Six birdies and 12 pars was, in the words of Poulter, "unbelievable". Such interest from a Ryder Cup peer is gratifying, but to be expected. Less predictable, perhaps, as Stenson now bounds forward in terms of worldwide respect for his ability, is the admiration of people like Tiger Woods, who later commented: “That was pretty incredible golf. We all know he’s got all the talent in the world to do this. It was just a matter of time before he put it together. To do it on this stage was pretty impressive.”
|
