Stenson sets sights on major victories

PLAYERS Championship winner Henrik Stenson is hoping the biggest victory of his career can quickly translate into success at the majors.

The Swede turned in a flawless six-under-par final round 66 at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday night as the rest of the field faltered to beat Ian Poulter of England by four strokes and win the unofficial fifth major.

Coming after a year in which he scored his first top-10 finishes at the majors with a tie for third place at British Open at Birkdale and tie for fourth at the USPGA Championship at Oakland Hills, Stenson feels victory in Florida can be the springboard to further success in golf’s biggest tournaments.

“Last year was a great year. I felt in the past it was a little bit annoying not to have a top-10 in a major and so on, and I definitely got to put an end to that question with a third at the Open,” Stenson said.

“And then the one I really felt like I had a good chance to win going into the last day was the PGA Championship.

“I felt like I was one out of four or five guys that had a good chance to win it. It obviously didn’t happen that day, but it’s all about putting yourself in that position.

“With the experience today, I know even better that I hope I can pull it offwhen it matters.”

While Stenson celebrated his victory, runner-up Poulter was left to rue a third round 75 on Saturday that handed Germany’s Alex Cejka a five-shot lead heading into the final round.

Cejka faded badly over the final round and although Poulter limited his bad holes to a single bogey, he was eclipsed by Stenson.

“I wanted to make a little bit of amends for Saturday’s round,” Poulter said. “That was a little bit frustrating to make a few bogeys on the par-fives when everybody seemed to be making birdies.

“I gave a couple shots away. It was key to get off to a decent start. I did that, hit a great shot into the first, missed it from about seven feet, whichwas frustrating.

“I had a good birdie on two, and then it was pretty quick. Obviously once Alex started, he started dropping a few shots, and all of a sudden we’re in this golf tournament.

“I was pleased with how I pretty much finished the tournament off, and hats off to Henrik for putting his foot down and disappearing.”

For Poulter, the tournament was eerily reminiscent of last summer’s runner-up finish at The Open at Birkdale when Padraig Harrington ran away with a four-shot victory despite the Englishman matching his final round 69.

“Being five shots back here, I was not really getting a sense of anything until really the eighth hole, and then pretty much through the back nine I felt as if I had a great chance, very similar to the British Open, I guess, and then obviously, I guess it’s similar, where Padraig put his foot down and disappeared on me at The Open.”