Bad temper earns fine for Stenson
Henrik Stenson, Europe’s leading player in the world, has been fined £500 (€750) - twice the minimum – for lashing out in anger and taking a lump out of a tee marker during his second round in the Open at Carnoustie.
It was not the Swede’s first offence.
At the 2005 European Masters in Switzerland Stenson, a member of the players’ committee, speared a wedge into a green after a bad chip and had to repair the putting surface.
He is thought to have been fined £1,000 then because of the seriousness of his actions.
One over par at the time on Friday, Stenson triple-bogeyed the short eighth. His first shot went out of bounds left and when he put another ball down and flared that out to the right he swung round and did the damage.
European Tour chief referee John Paramor was there to meet Stenson at the end of the round – just after he had bogeyed the last to fall to five over par. He missed the cut because of it.
“I don’t know how you react when you take a triple, but I get frustrated,” he told reporters. “I didn’t expect it to go OB (out of bounds), I got a bit frustrated and it showed obviously.”
Asked if he knew the amount of the fine Stenson said: “No. They don’t do it on the spot – they don’t do cash payments, I think. I expect I’ll be getting a letter.”
The Open is his first event since becoming a father for the first time at the start of the month.
