The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Stenson hails captain Bjorn’s tactical game
Henrik Stenson praised the tactics of captain Thomas Bjorn after justifying his wild card with a 100% record in Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph in Paris.
Stenson failed to qualify for the team automatically after an injury-plagued summer and only played three times at Le Golf National, but won both foursomes matches with Justin Rose before thrashing Bubba Watson 5&4 in the singles.
“It’s been great to be part of this team,” the former Open champion told Press Association Sport.
“It was some youth and experience getting together and obviously we delivered which is the main thing.
“We played some great golf, we had a lot of fun and for everyone to take the responsibility to go out there and win the singles session was key.
“We got into a nice position after two days but it was really down to Sunday and delivering and we did that.
“Of course it’s nice to deliver when you haven’t earned your spot on the team, I’m happy to be trusted to do that and delighted to get three points.”
He added: “I was one of the guys who was there (at Hazeltine) to lose it two years ago, so that little bit of extra revenge makes it feel even sweeter.”
Bjorn’s wild card selections of Stenson, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia were not universally popular, but between them they contributed nine and a half points and Garcia’s three wins saw him overhaul Nick Faldo as the top points scorer in Ryder Cup history.
“I was never worried,” Stenson said of Bjorn.
“I knew he was going to do a good job. He’s been doing that for a long, long time.
“When you are a little bit older and you get a little bit more of an insight into what’s going on, you realise how many endless hours he and Grace (Bjorn’s partner) and the whole Ryder Cup Team Europe has put into this and everyone that’s helped out.
“Anything from nutrition to whatever it might be this week, it’s been great, and a lot of good tactical decisions as well.
“I’m sure there were a few people looking at certain pairings and wondering why is he playing not there and this and that, but it’s all about getting the pairings that you think are going to produce the most points out there and they certainly did that this week.”