BRADENTON, Fla. — Henrik Stenson would have been hard-pressed to predict that he’d play in a golf tournament on the West Coast of Florida this week. Or in Barbados next week. Or in a few American states he’s never even visited later this year.
But golf can be a cruel game sometimes, with far more losses than wins. That cruelty was still present in the LIV Golf League, despite generally being viewed as pretty cushy.
Stenson, who recently turned 50, found himself in a battle for one of the last spots outside of LIV Golf’s relegation zone last August when he played in the final individual event in Indianapolis.
He was battling Ian Poulter, his LIV Golf teammate, for what turned out to be the last spot. And with an edict that LIV captains can lose their spot in the league if they finished outside of the top 48 in the points standings, Stenson was left without a spot.
“As it turned out, it was one shot on the final round, the final day,” Stenson said at the Concession Golf Club, where he is playing in this week’s Senior PGA Championship. He opened the event Thursday with an even-par 72.
“I was disappointed with my performance, at the same time as Ian did a really, really strong finish. I think he birdied four out of the last five or five out of the last five or something like that to beat me by a shot. That's the way it goes, but I had it all in my own hands, and I didn't finish it the way I wanted and should have.”
And so here is Stenson, the likeable Swedish golfer who won the 2016 British Open in an epic duel with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, exploring new opportunities.
Turning 50 meant the PGA Tour Champions beckons, as does the European version called the Staysure Legends. Next week he will play in Barbados for his first event on that circuit.
Stenson is not eligible to compete in regular Champions Tour events until the end of August, after a year has passed since his last LIV event. Because he resolved all fines and suspensions with the DP World Tour, he is free to play Legends events plus any DP World Tour events for which he is eligible.
He says he’s “relaxed, refreshed,” and he has not competed anywhere since that last LIV event last August.
“I've toured the world for 28 years, and I felt during COVID that it was kind of nice to have a little bit and have that extra bit of time. I've felt the same now.
“I probably needed it even more so this time around. I was definitely run down, and I think being in your own house eating well, sleeping well, working out, just like getting back into a good day-to-day rhythm has really helped me, and I'm in a much better place now than I was six months ago.
“I've got some work to do, but that's part of the process. That's part of what we do, and I've got some really fun tournaments coming up this summer and this fall that I look forward to. Like I said, it's a bit of a new chapter in my life, in my career.”
Stenson joined LIV Golf in the summer of 2022 under a cloud of controversy, having earlier that year accepted the captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team for 2023. Stenson has maintained that he believed he could serve as captain and play for another tour; the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup Europe stripped him of his captaincy after he joined LIV officially in July of 2022.
A week later, he won his first LIV Golf event—the only one he captured—and Luke Donald was appointed captain. Donald has since gone on to captain two European victories and will take on the role for a third time next year in Ireland.
Stenson expressed no bitterness or ill will, and he hopes one day to be part of that scene again, knowing that it will take some time to play out.
The winner of 11 tournaments on the DP World Tour and six on the PGA Tour, including the 2009 Players Championship, Stenson is looking forward to these new adventures after a long break.
“Since I started playing golf in 1989 I believe it was, I've never had this long of a break,” he said. “Back in the old days growing up in Sweden, it would have been probably five months maybe over the winter months, right, but I've had eight-and-a-half months not completely away from golf, but it's the longest break I've had in my professional career.
“I've enjoyed it. I've been home. I've made some good use in terms of practice, not so much golf. In particular, not the first four or five months, but played some social rounds and some charity events and things like that. So we still kept up, but of course, you always looking forward to a little bit of guessing on how rusty are we.
“I don't think you forget how to compete, but there might certainly be a little bit of rust to shake. Given that we're at a senior major, it would have been nice to maybe have a few reps in before, but that's fine. We'll just do the best we can.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Henrik Stenson Starts His Next Chapter Following Relegation Out of LIV Golf.
