Stenson awaits Daddy call

It could be any time now that European Tour number one Henrik Stenson joins world number one Tiger Woods as a first-time father.

But the Swede has given instructions to his wife Emma to “sit still and cross her legs for another couple of days”.

Three days after Woods welcomed daughter Sam Alexis into the world - conveniently for him the day after he finished second in the US Open – Stenson is in Munich to defend his BMW International Open title.

“Our due date is July 3, but Tiger’s baby came early so we’ll just have to see,” said the 31-year-old.

“If I get a call, I could be off.”

Stenson, who is missing next week’s French Open to spend time at home and will then make a decision on the European Open in Ireland depending on the situation, is looking for a return to form after missing the cut at last week’s brutally-difficult US Open.

Not that he is not overly concerned.

“I always seem to be struggling in the spring and early summer and struggling from strong allergies normally doesn’t help the energy levels either,” he said.

“There are not going to be many times when you feel 100% with your game, but it doesn’t make it any easier when you are feeling a little bit off and you know you are going to be playing such a tough course as last week.”

Now he is back at the same Eichenried layout where he beat Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington with a play-off eagle in September.

Neither Goosen nor Harrington are in the field this time, but Ernie Els is and so are three players who finished in the top 10 at Oakmont, Stenson’s compatriot Niclas Fasth and England’s Nick Dougherty and Paul Casey.

Fasth, who came fourth, was an early starter today, but Dougherty and Casey - seventh and 10th respectively – were grateful for a lie-in as they try to shake off not just jet-lag, but the mental and physical fatigue of being in contention at the season’s second major.

Casey made the decision afterwards that he and caddie Craig Connolly needed to end their partnership, even if it is just for a short time.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. We’ve probably been getting at each other,” said the Ryder Cup star.

“Both of us were tired at the end of last week, so when Craig said ’what do you think?’ I said ’I think we should take a break’. We’ve had a couple before, so we will see.

“We haven’t discussed it any further than this week. Watch this space.”

Irishman John Mulrooney was on the bag in Germany.