Stenson gunning for Cup spot
Ten months after saying he would only be satisfied when he had both feet in the European Ryder Cup team rather than just one, Swede Henrik Stenson today took a mighty leap towards clinching his first cap.
The 30-year-old, who may well have done enough already to be sure of a debut at the K Club next month, charged into a two-stroke lead at the United States PGA championship in Chicago.
Two behind playing partner Chris Riley and Lucas Glover when he resumed on four under par, Stenson made a dream start to the second round.
First he hit a superb eight-iron recovery from a fairway bunker on the first to six feet, then his seven-iron tee shot to the 191-yard second finished just two feet from the hole.
Fourth in the battle for places in the European team with only two more events to come, he grabbed the outright lead when he added another birdie on the next and a fourth came just two holes later.
Stenson is, of course, trying to become the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie in 1999 – and he was certainly enjoying himself more than he did on his debut in the event last year.
The big hitter was playing his first tournament in the United States, but the week was marred by his girlfriend being robbed in a New York restaurant.
Stenson has not had a top-10 finish since April, but he is happy to think of it as a deliberate mini-slump so that he can now run into form for next month’s match.
“If you are in form early there’s a chance you can lose it,” he said. “I’ve not been playing great the last couple of months, but it feels like it’s moving in the right direction.”
His quest for a place in Ian Woosnam’s side began last September in a manner he would rather forget.
Frustration boiled over on the final day of the first qualifying event, the European Masters in September, when he speared a wedge into a green and had to repair the damage done.
Tour officials were soon told about the incident and fined Stenson £1,000, it is thought, rather than the minimum £250 because of the seriousness.
“I lost it,” he admits. “I’m a calm guy, but when I lose my temper I really lose it. I snapped and I’m not proud of what happened that day. I behaved badly.”
He piled up the points in the next few weeks, however, and while many assumed he was certain of his place even before Christmas he insisted: “There’s still a long way to go. I’ve got one foot out of the two in the team, but I won’t be satisfied until it’s both.”
Riley, a member of the 2004 American Ryder Cup side but amazingly without a single point in their two-year race, had also birdied the first, but he played the next 10 in two over and his compatriot Jonathan Byrd – originally the sixth reserve for the event – matched Stenson’s outward 33 to join late starter Glover in second place.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who both opened with 69s, were not teeing off again until the afternoon, but Stenson’s fellow countryman Daniel Chopra burst into a tie for fourth place by playing the first 10 holes in five under.
Chopra had come into the tournament as fourth reserve when Paul McGinley decided on Sunday to withdraw so he could attend the funeral of Darren Clarke’s wife Heather.
Davis Love was on the same mark after continuing his fluctuating fortunes.
Love, desperate to retain his Ryder Cup place, had been seven under after 16 holes of the first round, then triple-bogeyed the short 17th for a 68 and his first 10 holes today contained four birdies and three bogeys.
Sergio Garcia, three behind overnight on the course where he was runner-up to Woods in 1999, had a triple-bogey seven on the 11th, but there were also three birdies in his first eight holes and so he was three under and still in the hunt.
Colin Montgomerie needed a dramatic improvement in his play just to survive the halfway cut after starting with a 77. He did birdie the 10th and 13th, but he probably still needed to cover the remaining 14 holes in three under to have a chance.
Stenson stretched his lead to three when he birdied the 244-yard 13th and improved to nine under.
Glover, yet to tee off again, was alone in second place as Byrd double-bogeyed the 12th, while Chopra let a shot slip on the same hole to be back to four under.
