Career
Henrik Stenson started playing professionally from 1999. The following year, he topped the money rankings on the second tier golf tour in Europe. In 2001, he joined the main European tour, and the same year, he turned out victorious in the Benson & Hedges International Tour as well.
Stenson’s performance in the following years was quite remarkable. From 2005 to 2008, he managed to finish each year standing in the top ten of the European Order of Merit. In 2006, he reached the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking and the top 10 the next year. He also played for the Ryder Cup in 2006.
In 2007, he beat Geoff Ogilvy in the final of the WGD Accenture Match Play Championships, becoming the first Swede to win one of the World Golf Championships. This victory catapulted him to the top of the European Order of Merit. He also stood at the fifth position in the world rankings. It was the highest ever ranking for a male Swedish player.
His successful career continued as he again emerged victorious in ‘The Players Championship’ which was held on 10th May 2009. Through this win, he again reached the fifth position in the Official World Golf Ranking.
During the 2011 season, he faced a lot of struggles, and by the beginning of 2012, his ranking had fallen to 230. In April 2012, he took part in the Masters Tournament where he led during the first round and scored a quadruple-bogey on the par-4 18th hole, thus tying the Master’s record for the highest score on that hole ever.
His performance improved during the 2013 season, as he scored several victories and high—place finishes. He also finished as the runner-up in the 2013 Open Championship held at Muirfield. Though he performed brilliantly, he was beaten by Phil Mickelson in the final round. This was, however, still Stenson’s best performance ever made in a major championship. He took part in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational the next month, where he finished as the runner-up and rose to the 11th position in the world rankings.
Stenson also performed commendably in the 2013 PGA Championship, finishing in the third place. This moved him one place up in the world rankings, and placed him back in the top ten. The year turned out to be very fortunate for Stenson, as he also performed well at the 2013 FedEx Cup Playoffs and won the Deutsche Bank Championship after beating Steve Stricker by two strokes.
In September 2013, he won the Tour Championship held at East Lake Gold Club as well as the FedEx Cup, which led to his career best Official World Golf Ranking of 4th position. He beat his own record and moved up to the third position in November after finishing the 2013 season with a remarkable performance. He also won the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
In 2014, Stenson won the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai for the second time, and also stood second at the Volvo World Match Play Championship as well as BMV International Open. Though he didn’t win any officinal tournaments in 2015, he scored several runner-up finishes, including one at the BMW International Open, just like the previous year.
He represented Sweden at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he won the silver medal. The same year, he emerged victorious in several championships including the 2016 Open Championship as well as the Race to Dubai for the second time. Due to his outstanding performance, he was named the European Tour Golfer of the year for the second time.
In 2017, he won the Wyndham Championship after beating Ollie Schniederjans by one stroke.
