Stenson putts it right

No snapped clubs for Henrik Stenson at Valhalla yesterday, just a lot of love for his putter as the Swede stayed in touch with Rory McIlroy at the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard.

The world number four, last season’s leading money winner on both sides of the Atlantic, may not be having the same stellar summer he enjoyed 12 months ago when he finished second at The Open in Muirfield and then third in the PGA at Oak Hill but he will start today’s third round handily positioned at five under par after negotiating the worst of yesterday’s wet weather conditions to post a level-par 71.

At this year’s Open at Hoylake, Stenson had in a moment of frustration broken an iron across his knee as he trundled to a tie for 39th but a month on and it was the flat stick that came in for special praise as he turned his focus to the weekend and the need for a spark to ignite his challenge for a first major title.