Lucky 13 for Stenson
Swede avoids penalty by scrapping broken wood at Tour Championship
Henrik Stenson broke another club Friday — this time by accident. And it didn’t matter.
Playing with only 13 clubs in the bag after his 4-wood broke on the practice range, Stenson made three birdies on the opening four holes at East Lake to quickly seize control and shot 4-under 66 to build a fourshot lead over Adam Scott in the Tour Championship.
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., fired a 1-over 71 and is eight shots back of Stenson.
For all his birdies, the best move he made all week was deciding to put the 4-wood in his locker instead of carrying it with him.
Stenson heard a funny sound after hitting five shots on the range, showed it to Steve Stricker and realized the face caved in. A television viewer who heard about the incident called the PGA Tour to see if the Swede had kept it in his bag, and officials checked with Stenson after his round.
If he had left it in the bag without using it, Stenson would have been assessed a four-shot penalty — the margin of his lead. If he had used the club, he would have been disqualified. Stenson had no intention of using it, though sending it to his locker saved him.
He wasn’t sure it was a violation to carry a non-conforming club, nor did he know the penalties.
“You asked me how well I knew the rules the other day. I gave myself 7 out of 10, didn’t I?” he said. “I guess this was in the other 30 per cent then. ... Good thing that we put it in the locker before we teed off.”
The way he’s going, a bizarre incident like that might be the only thing that can stop him. Meantime, Tiger Woods staggered to a 71, 14 shots back. “I put everything I had into that ...,” Woods said. “Just ran out of gas.”