#360view: Stage looks set for confident Henrik Stenson to win the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

Joy Chakravarty 04:20 15/01/2015
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  • The contrasting ways in which two of the biggest protagonists of this week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship – Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer – are approaching the tournament is just fascinating.

    – #360view: The magnificent seven that could be on Rory McIlroy’s secret list of 2015 goals
    – Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship celebrates its 10th anniversary

    Both are very good friends on and off the golf course, and were in fact part of the same management stable before Stenson moved to the USA and changed his manager. Both enjoyed a superb season last year with Kaymer winning two big tournaments – the US Open and the Players Championship – and Stenson capping a solid season with a second successive victory at the DP World Tour Championship. It doesn’t require an expert to see that both are in great form.

    Kaymer finally found his groove with the swing changes last year to end almost three years in the golfing wilderness. Stenson’s loss of form, almost during the same period, was more because of injuries, but he has been unstoppable since the 2013 Scottish Open.

    The only big difference between the two, especially with the focus being on this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, is that while Kaymer has lifted the Falcon Trophy three times, Stenson has had success on the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the past, but a title has eluded him thus far.

    Henrik Stenson was in fine form last season, winning the DP World Tour Championships.

    The Swede has enough modesty not to behave like a boxer before a fight, but he did drum up his chances in a most emphatic manner yesterday during the press conference – much more forcefully than we have ever seen him do in the past.

    On the other hand, Kaymer, who could have made a birdie from just about any part of the golf course during the years of his domination, tried hard to play down the expectations. He emphasised time and again that he has lost the psychological advantage he had over others on this golf course following the changes that have been made over the last few years.

    This really is the first time I have heard Kaymer sound a bit negative. And despite the immense self belief Stenson always had, he has never been so forceful in talking up his own chances. Perhaps it’s just a case of both players trying to employ ‘reverse psychology’ to motivate themselves.

    Even their preparation for the tournament could not have been more different. While Stenson, who normally shuts up shop completely and heads to Sweden with family and keeps himself off golf, stayed in the US this time, and did a bit of work during the off-season.

    On the other hand, Kaymer used to be so finicky about his practice that he’d head off to the deserts in Arizona to make sure the winter in Europe did not hamper his pre-season preps. This time, he went the other side, to a ski resort in Italy, and completely forgot about golf for three weeks.

    It really is a case of to each his own. Both the players are attacking the same pin from two different sides of the golf fairway. I won’t be surprised if both the approaches pay off and Stenson and Kaymer have a fantastic season.

    And on the point of changes on the golf course, most players have appreciated the latest effort for this year’s tournament, but Kaymer, having enjoyed so much success on the old layout, doesn’t like them.

    But this year’s changes, in which the organisers have tried to bring the water in play on certain holes this year, are very well thought out.

    The green on the second has been extended towards the right water, and on the fourth a slope has been created bringing the water on the right side of the green very much into play. Further down, the par-3 12th now no longer has the grassy patch between the water and the front of the green.

    More than anything else, it makes for a couple of very exciting pin positions on each of these holes. All in all it this tenth
    anniversary tournament looks set to deliver another exciting four days of action. It’s always hard to predict the winner of this tournament but Stenson has good reason to be bullish. It might just be a case of tenth time lucky. Enjoy.

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