One-derful wizard
Stenson takes title, gives to local charity
NORTON — Henrik Stenson is usually the one taking off his hat on the 18th green, conceding tournaments to well-deserved champions.
It wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed, so with three runnerup finishes this year it was surprising to see his somewhat muted reaction when he pulled his ball out of the cup on the 72nd hole yesterday of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Stenson finally broke out of the comfort zone of second place with a 2-stroke victory over Steve Stricker on a wet, long day at TPC Boston, snapping a four-year gap since his last PGA Tour win.
“Yeah,” said Stenson with a pause when speaking to the media after a final-round of 5-under 66, “that feels nice. . . . There’s never a bad time to win a golf tournament, I know that much.”
With the way the fairways and greens filled with water all week, the soft conditions made the course ripe for plenty of red numbers.
Stenson’s four-day total of 22-under 262 ties Charley Hoffman (2010) and Vijay Singh (2008) for the best 72-hole score in the history of the event. Stenson hit 84.7 percent of the greens in regulation, creating a careerhigh 61 chances at birdie.
The win makes the 37-year-old Swede the player to chase in the race for the FedEx Cup championship with two tournaments left, as he moved ahead of Tiger Woods for the top billing with the victory.
Stenson said he could see the finish line after a long stretch of golf the past couple of months. After visiting his couch for some relaxation during the bye week, he will prepare for the BMW Championship in hopes of cementing a spot in the top five for the season-ending Tour Championship.
“I’m just going to continue to try to play my best. That’s gotten me a very long way,” said Stenson, whose last victory came at the 2009 Players Championship. “It’s going to be no different going to Chicago. I’m going to try my best there and then Atlanta. I’ve always been a pretty good front-runner. I always like to think that the other guy is going to have to play better than I do, if I’m in the lead.”
Mother Nature reared her head for the second straight day causing a suspension of play twice. The first weather stoppage came before the top groups could get out for a condensed morning play. The second came at 2:07 p.m., but by then Stenson had started to put his grip on the tournament.
With 54-hole leader Sergio Garcia falling back, Stenson charged ahead with three straight birdies on holes 4-6 to make up for a rare bogey on the par-5 No. 2. Stenson picked up another shot on the par-3 8th after knocking a 5-iron inside 15 feet just before the lightning horn sounded.
“I had a good lead. But still, you know, 10 holes to go. And I think it was five guys chasing me down at that point, with a few others just behind,” said Stenson, who was 5-under on the par-5 holes this weekend. “I knew I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, and preferably make a few birdies coming in. I managed to do that.”
Unlike Sunday’s unpredictable third round, yesterday had Stenson’s stamp all over it when play resumed.
His 31-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th put him up by 3 strokes. When he holed out from the sand on No. 17, that iced the win.
Stenson picked up $1.44 million with the victory and made a decision before the round that he would donate a portion of his winnings to The One Fund, no matter the outcome.
“We are all wearing this ribbon today and this week, and I just felt like if I have a nice day today,” said Stenson, who reportedly gave $25,000 to the charity, “I want to give something back.”