Now this is getting really scary…despite his phenomenal success in the latter half of 2013, Henrik Stenson believes he has a lot to improve.
The Swede, who returned to the UAE after a quick trip to Stockholm to pick a couple more awards – the Male Sports Athlete of the Year and also the first male golfer to win the Radiosportens Jerringpris, an award for the top sporting achievement of the year as voted for by the Swedish public – starts his 2014 season today at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Speaking on the eve of the tournament, in which he has finished runner-up twice and holds the course record of 10-under par 62, the world No3 said the big challenge would be to somehow not get distracted and lose his focus.
“The key thing is to keep on doing the same things that I did for the last year and a half that really led up to that great run that I had on the back end of last year,” said the top-ranked player in the tournament.
“To keep on developing as a player, I still feel like there are a lot of areas that I can improve on, quite a lot in some and a little bit less in others perhaps.
“As we all know, golf is a game where you never get finished. You can always keep on getting better and keep on working.
The moment you sit down and you’re happy where you’re at, normally you start going backwards.”
When asked to outline the areas in which he thought he still needed to improve, Stenson added: “I think the two key areas for me, my overall putting and my wedge game.
“I definitely feel like I can gain shots in putting. I’d say if I look at the stats, I think I’m probably about average in putting on the PGA Tour.
“And then I feel my pitching is normally a strong part, but my wedge game, probably 100, 120 yards, I can improve a lot, as well.
“My bunker play hasn’t been as good as it can, either. So there’s still a lot of room for improvement, I promise.”
Stenson was the talk of the golfing world last year for his double-double when he won the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai on either side of the Atlantic, and also triumphed in the Tour Championships on both Tours.
His goal for the next 12 months is logically to win a Major and displace Tiger Woods as world No1.
Asked what he needs to do to overtake Woods, he said: “Well, the simple answer would just to be keep on playing the way I have been playing and I should hopefully challenge for it.
“But I can’t put my focus on that. My focus has to be on my game and doing the right things, and hopefully the result will continue to keep coming our way.
And if they do, I hope I’ll be in with a chance to firstly get to world No2 and then to world No1.
“I think it would be a lovely achievement and something to look back at the end of one’s career. “Whether it happens or not, that’s written in the future and I can only focus on what I can control.
“I mean, even if I win three tournaments in the next four weeks, Tiger or Adam might do the same or even better. I can only do my bit and then we’ll see.”
