Countdown to the Masters: Stenson ready to fill the void

In one delicious example of his glorious humility, Henrik Stenson has been putting right his interrogators this week who have been insisting he announce himself as the new global force. "Hey, I'm not even the most famous golfer in Sweden," he says. "In fact, I'm not even the most famous Henrik in Sweden." But, with respect to Ms Sorenstam and Mr Larsson all that could be about to change. Annika and Henrik - "King Henrik", that is - may be up there with the Nordic goddesses and gods, but here on Planet Earth their nation has the coming man in golf, a player arriving not so much with the wind at his back as turbos in his titanium-tipped spikes.

Stenson's startling start to the season - victory over Tiger and Ernie in Dubai and, in his very next tournament, a win over the rest of the boys who matter in the WGC World Match Play - has seen him leap into the world's top five and, perhaps more pertinently, to the head of that European list of expectancy. You know, that one entitled "who will break our major void of eight years and 29 tournaments in this damned 21st century".

These past few days Nick Faldo has led the chorus singing the Scandinavian's praises as the countdown to the Masters, the year's first major in a fortnight's time, has began in earnest. "He's a great talent," commented the European Ryder Cup captain and celebrated master of Georgia. "He's got gorilla strength, is a fast learner, is winning regularly and is solid with the putter. Yeah, I think he could be the man."

Stenson is not so sure, admitting on the eve of this WGC CA Championship that he is flattered by all the interest, but slightly surprised by its expectant tone. "Don't get me wrong, I think I can have a good tournament, but it's only my second time at Augusta," he pointed out. "There's been a few suggestions that, you know, 'your game suits perfect, you're going to win the Masters'. But I just feel that from making that statement to actually winning it, is quite a long way. And I've not been the one making the statements."

Indeed, that would not be the 30-year-old's style. He is more into asides instead of those in-your-face declarations of intent, a character trait that America is only now waking up to. Europe has long known that there is much more to this personality than the nerveless winner the States - somewhat inevitably it must be said - instantly billed as the "Iceman". If there is any ice to Stenson then it is decidedly dry ice.

When asked in a southern drawl yesterday how his life has changed since becoming the last man standing in the Tucson shootout four weeks ago, Stenson's expression remained deadpan. "All the media interest, definitely," he came back. "There used to be only six at my press conferences. Now, it can be anywhere up to eight." The wisecracks continued in that vein, although, in truth, they simply helped to cover up what is emerging as one of golf's better stories.

Where Stenson has been and where he is now is no laughing matter. "Hell and back," one golf magazine called it, but even that seems a rather positive travelogue on the slump he went through. His coach, Pete Cowen, best summed up the horrors of this big-hitting, big-missing, confusion of talents - "He had trouble hitting the world."

It was at the K Club at the 2001 European Open when it all but stopped spinning when, after just nine holes of the first round, he had quite enough of seeing little white things endlessly hurtling towards the O.B. He dropped sticks and walked in. "I told my partners they'd be better off without me," he remembers.

The exact nature of the problem took some unravelling and the desperation to do so was probably best evidenced by the occasion when he actually started hitting balls with his eyes shut. But Cowen, and a sports psychiatrist who had worked with America's Navy Seals, had the power to rebuild him and the process progressed, albeit slowly. Only in 2005 did the curve lurch upwards. "That's when I really established my game," he said in a quiet corner here at Doral Country Club. "That year, I didn't apply the icing with a win or two - that came in 2006 - but that's when I put myself into the position to establish myself, move up the rankings and then into the Ryder Cup team. Being a part of that makes you grow as player."

Except Stenson was not just a part of Ian Woosnam's heroes, he was the winning part of it, as the singles victor who holed the putt that actually redelivered the trophy. He accepts the honour of that as he accepts most things - with a shrug, a smile and a nod towards what was really important on that magical afternoon at the K Club. "The team winning was the only thing, it didn't matter who or when," he says. "When I grew up I had two things in my mind. One was the Ryder Cup. The other were the majors."

Which brings us nicely on to the Masters and what surely represents his best shot thus far. "I haven't got a top 10 in a major to my name yet and realistically that would be an achievement at Augusta this year," he confessed. He did so in the knowledge that his experiences at the National have not exactly set the old place alight. "The first time I went there was in 1999 when my wife [Emma Lofgren, the former professional] was at the University at South Carolina and we got tickets for a practice day. I saw [Jose Maria] Olazabal playing and decided to place a bet on him. I forgot to. He won."

Six years on and his first competitive round there was similarly ill-fated, ending in a 77 that included a brief flare-up with his caddie. "No it didn't go as intended," he says. "I played badly and missed the cut. It'll be better this time."

But whether it will be better enough is an imponderable he, quite understandably, refuses to become overly obsessed with. He laughs when you ask him about the searing necessity to break the seemed European curse. "It's been a lot of sleepless nights thinking about it," he says. "Yeah, I'm crying myself to sleep. But to be serious, it has been a while, but I think we can turn it around in the near future. I wouldn't mind being the one to do it." Which is not to say that he "will" be the one, even though he has someone rather influential in his corner. Famously, Fanny Sunesson helped fit two green jackets on Faldo and it is surely no coincidence that she has been at her countryman's side in his stunning accession to the big time.

"If I need to know anything about Augusta then I couldn't want anyone else than Fanny could I?" he says before going on to reveal how the pair linked up. "She was on [Mark] Hensby's bag when he pipped me to the Scandinavian Masters in 2005. When we went out for the play-off she told Mark 'you're either going to make one Swede very happy or 20,000 very sad'. I've never forgiven her for that.

"But when I split with my old caddie last year I was looking around, heard she was available, made contact and that was that. I think we both fancied it because of our nationality, so have the same personalities and all that. She reckons I wanted her so I could brush up on my Swedish. Whatever, it wasn't the worst decision I've ever made." And nor was it Fanny's. "Henrik is one of those rare, fortunate players who can be as good as he wants to be - he's got everything," she says. Which is not the worst commendation for that once sad figure "who had trouble hitting the world". It is fair, to say he has no problem in locating it now. On the contrary, Stenson is hitting it squarely between the eyes.

Fairway force: The rise and rise of Stenson

Born 5 April 1976, Gothenburg

Career Progress

1999 Turned professional

2000 Came top of money rankings on Challenge Tour

2001 Joined European Tour

2005 Finished eighth in European Order of Merit

2006 Sixth in European Order of Merit; made Ryder Cup debut, gained half-point in foursomes and then holed winning putt in a singles match to win 4 & 3 to ensure victory for Europe

Team Appearances

Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe, 2005)

WGC World Cup (representing Sweden, 2005)

Royal Trophy (representing Europe, 2006) winners

Ryder Cup (representing Europe, 2006) winners

Professional Wins

2001 Benson & Hedges Open

2004 The Heritage

2006 Qatar Masters; BMW International Open

2007 Dubai Desert Classic; WGC World Match Play

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