STENSON INSPIRED BY ABSENT CHAMPION

Phil Mickelson may have dominated the build-up to the US PGA Championship for all the wrong reasons, but Henrik Stenson hopes to take inspiration from the absent defending champion at Southern Hills.

Mickelson became the oldest winner in major history at Kiawah Island last year, but is sitting out a second major of the year in Tulsa following the backlash to his explosive comments about the US PGA and a Saudi-backed rival league.

The six-time major winner said he was using the threat of a breakaway to “reshape” how the PGA Tour operates, while also accusing them of “obnoxious greed” and acting like a “dictatorship”.

Long-time rival Tiger Woods denounced Mickelson’s comments on Tuesday and various players described his exile from the game as “sad”, but Stenson was asked if Mickelson’s victory last year at 50 gave him hope of winning a second major title in the future.

“Yeah, I’ve got four more years to prepare, I guess,” joked the 46-year-old, who got the better of Mickelson in a duel for the 2016 Open at Royal Troon.

“Certainly for us guys a little bit on the older side, of course that was great to see Phil winning at 50 and give inspiration that it’s certainly not too late.

“We see the younger generation, the kind of firepower they have off the tee, but there’s more to it than just distance.

“No matter what your age, if you play your best game and you use all that experience and mental abilities and everything else, you can certainly be up there and win even at a later age. It was certainly inspiring and good to see.”

Stenson has not won a full-field event since 2017 and has fallen outside the world’s top 200, and now has the added responsibility of leading Europe’s bid to regain the Ryder Cup in Rome next year.

“I’m sure it will be occupying my mind a bit more than I would like it to at times,” Stenson admitted, although he would not be drawn on whether he would opt for more than three wild cards for the contest at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

“It will take up a lot of time, but it’s fun time.”