 Unlike a number of Nedbank Golf Challenge participants, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson
immediately took to the course and the conditions on his first visit in 2006. With a
second and a fourth place under his belt from the first two visits, he must surely start
as one of the favourites to lift the crystal golf ball.
Golfers very rarely win on courses they don’t like. In fact, for traveling
professionals, the same can be said of countries they don’t enjoy. So if you’re
wondering whether to have a punt this year it may be worth remembering that Henrik Stenson
"absolutely loves South Africa" and rates the Gary Player Country Club course as
"one of my favourites anywhere in the world."
It also helps a great deal if the predominant strength of your game is straight,
long-irons – which is certainly the case with Stenson. Add in a large dose of
determination to atone for a winless year and it becomes clear that the affable Swede
ought to be considered amongst the favourites.
"I have really enjoyed myself at Sun City and the course is one of my favourites.
The two visits to Sun City are my only visits to South Africa so far and my whole family
has all loved it! I played well the first year and had an outside chance to win but the
second year wasn’t too bad, either. I played alright last year but Trevor and Justin
were just a division better then everybody else. But I wasn’t unhappy with
fourth," Stenson said.
His geniality disguises a fierce determination to win. Cunningly, perhaps, he uses his
laid-back demeanor as a ‘cover’ to lull opponents into a false sense of
security.
He is the antithesis of the conventional professional. He wasn’t a child prodigy
destined for an American collegiate scholarship or the product of an increasingly
efficient Swedish production line of top sportsmen in a variety of disciplines. In fact,
he didn’t even achieve a scratch handicap until he was 18-years-old. And he
doesn’t even live in Sweden.
His record in the desert tournaments of Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi should provide a
sufficiently strong clue to where he calls home – Dubai, following his belief that it
was important stay somewhere warm and with excellent, year-round practice facilities.
The 33-year-old sank the putt which won Europe the 36th Ryder Cup two years ago but has
now experienced the flip side of the most famous team tournament in golf having been part
of Nick Faldo’s vanquished Europeans. But despite the ‘passion’ of the
American galleries, his Bjorn Borg-like ‘Iceman’ calmness was evident at every
turn. "It’s golf," he smiles, "not war."
He is most definitely a relaxed personality with no likelihood of burnout in pursuit of
the impossible. But then again, he gets things done – as he did when he decided it
was time to play in America back in 2006.
"I decided it was time to play in America because one of my goals was always to
win there," he recalls. It took him one week to achieve it. And it wasn’t just
any old tournament, but the WGC Accenture World Matchplay Championship.
And now for a third crack at Sun City, another opportunity to experience a country he
has enjoyed enormously and a final chance to win in 2008, having finished tied for third
at The Open and fourth in the PGA, his best year yet in the Majors. | 
