Fully-clothed Henrik Stenson happy with title defence so far
After having all his clothes stolen in a burglary earlier this week, defending champion Henrik Stenson was not prepared to give up another prized possession without a fight. A five-under-par round of 65 propelled the Swede up the leaderboard, even as his grip on the Claret Jug was reduced to a little finger.
It is tempting to wonder how Stenson, who is now three under for the tournament, would have fared had thieves not broken into his rental home during his first round of 69 on Thursday. The following day’s 73, which effectively torpedoed his defence, was largely a result of the filthy weather that Royal Birkdale endured, but undoubtedly it was also influenced by the fallout of the burglary.
Having a sponsor like Hugo Boss means that finding replacement clothes was never going to be a problem but his preparation was thrown into chaos. “It’s obviously not a nice incident and anything you want to go through,” Stenson said. “It’s more a hassle getting [new clothes] – I didn't want to tee it up like I looked at the WGC-CA Championship a couple of years ago (when he stripped to his underwear to play a shot out of the mud). Standing in my boxer shorts on the first tee would have been so so.
“It was all the mess getting everything organised, getting my clothes fixed and back ready to play golf. But it's some sort of disturbance. I spent those fours hours, instead of relaxing, watching a movie and chilling out, we had to do other things. It wasn't great, but I'm glad to inform you I haven't lost anything in the last two days, so things are pretty good at the moment.”
As the morning scoreboard lit up in red, Stenson was aware that there was the potential to launch a charge from the middle of the pack where he started at two over, eight shots behind overnight leader Jordan Spieth.
Opening with back-to-back birdies was the perfect launchpad, but Stenson’s progress was checked by bogey at the notorious sixth. He then did not pick up speed again until the homeward nine where he picked up three birdies in the space of four holes. Other opportunities were missed, notably at 17, leaving Stenson at tantalising arm’s length from Spieth.
The 40-year-old famously delivered one of the great all-time final round performances in his Duel in the Sun II against Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon last year. Topping that effort would take some doing, but Branden Grace’s effort proves that a truly ridiculous score is possible if the conditions remain as benign as they were on Saturday.
“I think we could have been sniffing around those numbers, as well,” Stenson said. “I made some great putts out there, but I also had a couple that were really close and I didn't take advantage of 17 the way I would have liked to. And one or two more on the front nine, for sure. So I don't think it would have been impossible for me to shoot a similar number today. But as I said, I'm happy with the 65.
“I got off to a flying start. Made two birdies straight out of the blocks and hit a lot of good putts, made some really good ones for par, for birdie. And I think it could have been one or two shots better, as well. But I'm obviously pleased with the day's work.”
The Open courses ranked - where does Royal Birkdale feature?
Regardless of where he finishes, Stenson’s legend is already assured in the eyes of the British public after last year’s exploits. “Certainly I got great support today and great reception,” Stenson said. “Walking on to every green it was great support, a lot of claps. And I truly felt the support and the fans were great. So it was a good day to play in front of them and they certainly didn't forget last year's Championship.”
