Henrik Stenson

Stenson won his first major at the 2016 British Open, becoming the first Swede to win a major title. Took a one-stroke lead and turned it into a three-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson. Shot rounds of 68-65-68-63 for a 20-under 264 total, breaking David Toms' record for the lowest aggregate 72-hole score in a major (265). Became the second player to post a 63 in the final round of a major and win, joining Johnny Miller, who accomplished the feat at the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Tied the 72-hole record for score in relation to par at a major (20-under) with Jason Day, who broke Tiger Woods' 19-under record, when he won the 2015 PGA Championship. The 264 total set a new scoring record at the British Open, and his 63 was the lowest final round by a champion in the event's history. His win at Royal Troon was his fifth career PGA Tour title in his 154th start at the age of 40 years, 3 months, 12 days, and his 11th European Tour win in his 320th event. Became the oldest first-time major winner since Darren Clarke won the British Open in 2011 at age 42. Joined Tiger Woods as the only two players with victories at a major championship, a World Golf Championship, The Players Championship, and the FedExCup during their respective careers.
Stenson was introduced to the game by a family friend and became a scratch player by age 18. He won the 2000 Challenge Tour Rankings with a record of eight top-10 finishes, including three wins. Lives in Orlando and is coached by Dubai-based Pete Cowen. He won his first European Tour title in more than five years when he claimed the South African Open by three strokes in November 2012. In the interim, he won the biggest title of his career with style at the 2009 Players Championship, carding a memorable final-round 66 at TPC Sawgrass. In 2010, he enjoyed his best performance to date at a major by finishing T-3rd at the British Open, matching his previous best effort at the same event in 2008. Made the European Ryder Cup team for the second consecutive time in 2008 and won 1 1/2 points at Valhalla, teaming with Oliver Wilson for a remarkable comeback to defeat Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson 2 & 1 in the Saturday morning foursomes. Ended 2008 in memorable fashion by partnering with compatriot Robert Karlsson to win the Mission Hills World Cup, then secured a runaway triumph at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. Won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2007 and three weeks later, captured the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he defeated 2006 U.S. Open winner and defending champion Geoff Ogilvy 2 & 1 in the 36-hole final. Member of 2006, '08, '14, '16 and '18 Ryder Cup teams.
2012 Notes: Played 28 events around the world, with his best PGA Tour finish a T-3rd at the Puerto Rico Open. Finished the year 111th in the FedExCup standings and 115th on the money list. On the European Tour, he won the South African Open and finished 40th in the Race to Dubai.
2013 Notes: Finished T-8th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The next week, he played to a T-2nd finish at the Shell Houston Open, his best result on the PGA Tour since his win at the 2009 Players Championship. The Houston win vaulted him into the top 50 in the world rankings and secured a spot at the Masters for the eighth consecutive season. Also earned invitations to the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. Finished T-5th at The Players Championship, T-10th at the BMW International, T-3rd at the Scottish Open, and 2nd at the British Open. Finished 3rd at the PGA Championship and went into the FedExCup playoffs ranked 8th. Finished T-43rd at The Barclays, won the Deutsche Bank, finished T-33 at the BMW Championship, and ended the year by winning the Tour Championship. Was 1st in the FedExCup standings and 2nd on the money list. He turned his attention to the European Tour and won the DP World Tour Championship, which helped him win the Race to Dubai honors. Stenson started the year ranked 53rd in the world and ended third.
2014 Notes: Began the year with a swollen right wrist and forearm. The injury, which occurred while he was practicing at home the previous October, hampered his play, especially during the final stages of the 2013 Race to Dubai. He finished runner-up at the Thailand Golf Championship and 4th at the Nedbank but didn't post another top-15 result until his T-5th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Also finished T-5th at the Volvo China Open and 5th at the Nordea Masters. Other top-10 results: T-7th at the BMW PGA Championship, T-4th at the U.S. Open, T-2nd at the BMW International in Germany, and T-3rd at the PGA Championship. The defending FedExCup champion played his way through the first three season-ending playoff events before settling in at 52nd in the FedExCup standings after the BMW Championship and finished 49th on the money list. In the fall events on the European Tour, he was runner-up at the Volvo Match Play Championship, where he lost to Mikko Ilonen in the final 3 & 1. In the year's Final Series, finished T-24th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, 3rd at the Turkish Airlines Open, and won the DP World Championship, Dubai. The victory, though, wasn't enough to catch Rory McIlroy. Stenson finished 2nd. Ended his year 2nd at the Hero World Challenge, 10 strokes behind Jordan Spieth.
2015 Notes: Stenson had the best year of anyone without a win. Finished runner-up five times, three of them coming in the FedExCup playoffs. His year started on a dubious note when he missed the cut at Abu Dhabi, then finished T-13th at the Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic. His game came around, though, and he finished T-4th at the WGC-Cadillac and 4th at the Valspar Championship, missing the playoff by one stroke. A week later, he took a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His final-round, two-under-par 70 wasn't enough to hold off a hard-charging Matt Every, the event's defending champion, who closed with a six-under 66 to win by one stroke. Stenson's runner-up finish was his third consecutive top-10 at the event. The week before the Masters, Stenson came down with the flu and lost 20 pounds. He struggled starting at the Masters with a T-19th finish and didn't improve until June when he finished 2nd at the BMW International in Germany, a stroke behind winner Pablo Larrazabal. Stenson was T-6th at the WGC-Bridgestone before making a run in the FedExCup playoffs with runner-up finishes at The Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Tour Championship. At East Lake, he shot a final-round 72 and finished four behind Jordan Spieth. Stenson finished 2nd in the FedExCup standings and 9th on the money list. He finished T-3rd at the BMW Masters and 18th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: He started his European year with a 2nd-place finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. After that, he underwent surgery in Orlando, Fla., to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Five weeks later, finished T-3rd at Abu Dhabi, then T-6th at the Dubai Desert Classic. At the Arnold Palmer, Stenson finished T-3rd (three strokes behind winner Jason Day). It was his fifth consecutive top-15 finish in that event. He was 2nd at the Shell Houston Open, just a stroke behind winner Jim Herman. Finished T-4th at the Nordea Masters, then after withdrawing from the U.S. Open, won the BMW International. Won the British Open by three strokes over Phil Mickelson. Two weeks later, he finished T-7th at the PGA Championship, where he entered the final round T-3rd, just two behind leader Jimmy Walker. A final-round 71 dropped him to 7th, six strokes behind Walker, who won. Stenson represented Sweden at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. With rounds of 66-68-68, was one stroke off Justin Rose's lead after 54 holes. In the final round, he headed to the 72nd hole tied with Rose at 15-under but bogeyed while Rose made a birdie to win the gold medal. Stenson claimed the silver medal with a 13-under total. He ended his PGA Tour season with a T-41st at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he finished 36th in the FedExCup standings and 21st on the money list. He decided not to play at the BMW so he could get ready for the Ryder Cup. Making his fourth start at the Ryder Cup, he went 2-3 in his five matches in the European team's 17-11 loss to the United States at Hazeltine. Wrapped up the week with a 3 & 2 singles victory over Jordan Spieth. On the European Tour, was T-2nd in the WGC-HSBC Champions (counted toward 2017 for PGA Tour, 2016 for European). Played in the last two Final Series events and finished 8th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and T-9th at the DP World Tour Championship. He won the Race to Dubai for the second time in his career (also won in 2013). Ended 2016 with a runner-up finish at the Hero World Challenge, finishing two strokes behind winner Hideki Matsuyama.
2017 Notes: He made his PGA Tour start with a T-2nd at the WGC-HSBC Champions, finishing seven strokes behind winner Hideki Matsuyama. Was T-8th at the Abu Dhabi Championship and finished 2nd at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, three behind winner Sergio Garcia. A week after having to withdraw from the WGC-Mexico Championship with a stomach ailment, he posted his second top-10 of the 2017 PGA Tour season, a T-7th at the Valspar Championship. The following week, he uncharacteristically missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first since the 2016 Players Championship. Missed three cuts in a row with Shell Houston and the Masters. In London, he finished T-3rd at the BMW PGA Championship. Was T-10th at the BMW International. In defending his British Open title, he finished T-11th. Returning to the Wyndham Championship for the first time since 2012, Stenson birdied four of his last six holes en route to a final-round six-under 64 and a one-stroke victory over Ollie Schniederjans. Played at the Northern Trust (T-17th) and BMW Championship (T-51st) and finished 32nd in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour, finished 15th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: Played nine European Tour events, making nine cuts with four top-10 finishes. Was 40th in the Race to Dubai. Played 16 PGA Tour events and made 14 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Ranked 57th in the FedExCup standings. In his first start on the PGA Tour, he finished T-2nd at the WGC-HSBC Challenge. It was his 2nd consecutive runner-up result in China and his 10th on the PGA Tour. Finished 8th at the Abu Dhabi Championship and T-6th at the Dubai Desert Classic. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Stenson held the lead going into the final round but shot 71 to finish 4th, five strokes behind winner Rory McIlroy. Was T-6th at the Houston Open, T-5th at the Masters, and T-6th at the U.S. Open. He was a captain's pick and played in his fifth Ryder Cup in France. Went 3-0-0 and closed with a 5 & 4 victory over Bubba Watson in singles. Stenson was plagued all year with a sore elbow and missed a handful of events. In October, he underwent a minor procedure on his elbow. He returned to action at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where he finished T-12th. Ended the year with 4th-place finishes at the Hero World Challenge and BNI Indonesian Masters.
2019 Notes: Played in 16 European Tour events, making three cuts with four top-10 finishes. Ranked 39th in the Race to Dubai. Played in 15 PGA Tour events, making 14 cuts with three top-10 finishes. Ranked 90th in the FedExCup standings. At the WGC-Dell Match Play, Stenson went undefeated in group play to advance to the round of 16. Lost to Lucas Bjerregaard 3 & 2 for a T-9th finish. Had a T-8th result at the RBC Canadian Open and another T-9th finish at the U.S. Open. Shot a final-round 66 at the Aberdeen Standard Scottish Open to finish T-4th, three strokes out of the Wiesberger/Hebert playoff. He passed on the FedExCup playoffs instead of finishing his year on the European Tour. Was T-3rd at the Scandinavian Invitational, five strokes behind winner Erik van Rooyen. Finished T-44th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2020 Notes: Won the unofficial Hero World Challenge by a shot over Jon Rahm. Only played in six PGA Tour events, making three cuts with just one top-25 finish. Played in seven European Tour events making four cuts. Placed T-20th at the WGC-HSBC Champions. He missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer, his last event before the break, and returned at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, where he finished T-35th.
2021 Notes: Played in 14 European Tour events making 8 cuts with two top-ten finishes. He has been plagued most of the year with injuries. During Bermuda Championship had a foot injury, and during the Arnold Palmer was dealing with sore ribs he got while on the ski slopes. On the European Tour, his best finish was T-4th at the D+D Real Czech Masters. Shot a final round 63 to finish 3rd at the Omega European Masters, two shots back of winner Rasmus Hojgaard. Was 87th on the Race to Dubai with earnings of euro371,033. Played in 18 PGA Tour events making 11 cuts with three-top-25 finishes. Was 187th in the final FedExCup rankings. Best finish T-11th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Justin Rose.
2022 Notes: Played in 8 DP World Tour events making four cuts with one top-ten finish. He was T-14th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Justin Rose. Was T-2nd in the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, nine shots back of winner Linn Grant.
2023 Notes: Was T-8th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.