Stenson eyes bigger prize

Henrik Stenson is the first Swede to win a World Golf Championships event and now he wants to become the first player from his country to win a major.

After outlasting Geoff Ogilvy two and one in an error-strewn final at the Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday night, Stenson said: “You know the two childhood dreams I had? Playing in the Ryder Cup and winning the Open. But any of the other majors will do.”

Stenson has already played in the Ryder Cup, making the winning putt at the K Club last year, and the 30-year-old from Gothenburg certainly has the game to contend in the four majors, even if he did not quite show it during the final at Dove Mountain, where Ogilvy was seeking to join Tiger Woods (2003-04) as a back-to-back winner of the event.

After winning five successive matches to get to the final, both players seemed flat, physically and mentally, and it came down to who would make fewer mistakes.

“I’m too tired to be happy, almost,” Stenson said. “Every day, every round, just wears you down a little bit. In the end you’ve got nothing left in the tank, and still I managed to find some on the back nine today.

“We made some silly mistakes, both of us, making bogeys from the middle of the fairway and stuff. I think that’s mainly down to us being really exhausted.

“I was struggling big-time with my game, especially starting the second round when I didn’t feel comfortable either off the tee or with the putts. Somehow I managed to fight my way through, not letting Geoff run away with it, and then all of a sudden turned around and finished with some good birdies.”

But Stenson, the ninth seed, certainly got some help from US Open champion Ogilvy. The Australian had taken advantage of his opponent’s struggles to go from two-down after 18 holes to two-up at 26.

Ogilvy had Stenson on the ropes, only to three-putt the 27th hole, missing a four-footer to hand the hole to Stenson, who suddenly was only one-down. More importantly, the momentum shifted.

“He missed a short putt (on the previous hole) and probably wasn’t feeling too great,” Ogilvy said. “So it’s just a ridiculous gift to three-putt the (27th). I can’t even describe how stupid it is.

“When you’ve got momentum on your side and you just hand it straight back, it was just not a very smart thing to do. I just missed short putts all day. I had three or four three-putts. That just might be the difference in the end.”

Stenson’s victory, worth 1.35million (£687,315), was his sixth in European Tour-sanctioned events, his first in the United States, and it came hot on the heels of his big win at the Dubai Desert Classic three weeks ago.

He moved to a career-high fifth in the world rankings, and to the top of the European Tour Order of Merit.

“I can’t say I should be number five in the world, but obviously that’s where I am at the moment,” he said. “I feel I’ve established myself as a top-20 player.”

Actually, he has done more than that: “He can win anything he wants,” said Ogilvy.