Stenson begins Masters push
British Open champ seeking top form for fifirst major of 2017.
PALM HARBOR — Henrik Stenson is happy with his start to the year.
It just seems like a false start.
Stenson has gone just over a month since his runner-up fini sh to Sergio Garcia in the Dubai Desert Classic. He made it through only 11 holes last week in the Mexico Championship before he was among the fifirst hit with a stomach virus and withdrew.
But with the Masters getting closer, it’s time for the Swede to get moving.
It’s the beginning of a stretch of tournaments leading into Augusta, so we want to try to get to the Masters in the right direction with where the game is at and what we need to keep working on leading into the fifirst major of the year,” Stenson said. “The game got offff to a good start in the Middle East. I think the game is in decent shape. It’s one of the first weeks here on a big stretch, so I hope to kind of play my way into some form.”
The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is as good of a test as any.
E v e n b e i n g s q u e e z e d among so many big tournaments in the two months leading up to the Masters, the Valspar Championship has attracted an assortment of the best players over the years because of the test Innisbrook presents.
Charl Schwartzel won last year in a playoff over Bill Haas after they fifinished at 7- under 277. The winning score has been no better than 10 under the last four years, and six out of 10 times since it moved to March.
I t l o o k s l i k e a n e a s y course because it’s not very long on distance,” Schwart- zel said. “But man, the way you’ve got to shape the shots, the way you’ve got to think, the variety of clubs you use, it’s just a really good golf course. You very seldom get the guy that plays badly who wins. You’ve got to bring a good game here to compete.”
The tournament has been decided by one shot or a playoffff the last eight years.
Among those not playing this week is Jordan Spieth, who won two years ago ahead of his Masters victory. Also missing is Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia, as players are trying to fifind the right amount of golf to play ahead of Augusta.
Stenson fifirst started playing it three years ago, when he missed a three-man play- offff by one shot.
It’s because of the second shots ... a lot of times it’s those mid-irons, the 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-irons into the greens,” Stenson said. “And when I’m hitting it well, then that’s the strong part of my game.”
He turns 41 on April 5, the Wednesday at the Masters. Of the fifive players ahead of him in the world ranking, the oldest is No. 1 Dustin Johnson at 32. Stenson feels he can hold his own with anyone. The question is how much longer.
“Of course, I’m on the back nine of my career,” Stenson said. “I’m not going to play forever, I know that much. I haven’t really set a time and a date on that. I hope to be around for the next Olympics. That will be kind of around the time where I would potentially have a look in the mirror and see if we want to keep on going or if we want to try and wind down.”
I t ’s gett i ng tougher to win. That has been a popular refrain in golf lately, especially with so many top players in their 20s like Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas.
Steve Stricker is playing his fifirst PGA Tour event since turning 50 last month — he will venture out to the PGA Tour Champions for the fifirst time next week in Arizona — and the PGA Tour saw fifit to group him at the Valspar Championship with Thomas and Daniel Berger, both 23.