Playing his first-ever senior-level event, which follows an eight-month break, which was forced by being booted out of LIV Golf, Henrik Stenson is answering questions when a reporter wonders about his driving average.
“My average?” Stenson says.
“Yeah, I’ve trimmed it down to about 360 to go easy on the guys.”
He’s not finished. He has one more crack.
“My carry distance is probably about 290, I’d say, with the driver.
“If I got a picture of you on the golf ball, I might be able to squeeze another 10 out of it.”
Consider Stenson’s mood light then, even after recent events. This week, the 2016 Open Championship winner is playing the Senior PGA Championship at the Concession Golf Club in Florida, and through two rounds, he was tied for 26th. He’s calling it a “new chapter.” Thing is, though, Stenson probably wouldn’t be playing his first event with the over-50 gang had his play gone just slightly differently last August.
He knows the details. He’d played been with Saudi-backed LIV since the third event of its first season, in 2022, which he won. He’d been a team captain. Then he was out. He finished LIV’s last event where points were awarded to players in 49th place in the individual standings, just below close friend Ian Poulter, and 49th and worst were relegated.
“That’s the way it goes,” Stenson said, “but I had it all in my own hands. and I didn’t finish it the way I wanted and should have.
“Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. It doesn’t really matter who’s the one that knocks you out or over-jump you by a shot. That’s just the nature of the sport. I got no one else to blame than myself for not playing better in the final round.”
From there, he paused. There was some plotting. In November, according to multiple outlets, he paid fines with the DP World Tour handed out due to his LIV play, clearing a return. Earlier this month, he turned 50, making him eligible for senior events. Next week, he’ll play on the Legends Tour, the DP World Tour’s senior circuit. In August, he said a suspension imposed by the PGA Tour will end, meaning he may play PGA Tour Champions tour tournaments. He’ll also try to qualify for the U.S. Open, and he’ll play in the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior Open.
But from last August to this week, Stenson played nowhere. He said he welcomed that, guessing that since 1989, when he first started playing, that he hadn’t taken more than five months off.
“Relaxed, refreshed,” Stenson said when asked what a pro does with eight months off.
“I’ve toured the world for 28 years, and I felt during Covid that it was kind of nice to have — you feel like you can kind of land 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.
“Yeah, I’m feeling like I really needed the time. In terms of the golf, like I said, I don’t think after 30 years you forget how to compete, but you might need a couple of rounds to get back into it. Also, it wasn’t like I played my best golf when I went on kind of this longer break, either.”
This week, at the Senior PGA, Stenson has started well. On Thursday, he shot even-par 72. On Friday, he was two shots better and made the weekend. He said he’s reconnected with old faces.
There was a time he thought he maybe didn’t want to play senior golf, but here he is.
“You never want to turn 50,” Stenson said.
“It beats the alternative, but yeah, time flies, right?”
