First Annika Sorenstam reigned. Now it is the era of Henrik Stenson. Swedish golf finally has a worthy successor to Empress Annika, the most successful golfer in history, with 88 international victories as a professional (72 on the LPGA Tour) including 10 majors. The player from Gothenburg, at 40 years of age, is a galaxy away from that universe of triumphs of his compatriot, but what he has done in the last British Open will go down in the annals of golf.
He was already showing magnificent ways when, in 2013, he achieved something extraordinary: winning in the same season the FedExCup of the American Tour and the Race to Dubai of the European Tour, but what he has achieved in the oldest and most prestigious tournament in the world this year has been almost miraculous. Everyone has toasted for the great feat… although probably not so much celebrated by the left-handed Phil Mickelson, who with this was already ten times the number of times he finished second in a major.
Apart from becoming the first Swedish citizen (man) to win a major, Stenson has broken several of the world’s most prized records.
His 20 under par victory surpasses Tiger Woods’ record of -19 in the 2000 Open. His 63 strokes in the final round is the lowest score for an Open winner on the final day (only Johnny Miller at the 1973 U.S. Open had previously achieved such a score to win a major).
His winning score of 264 beat the lowest winning score at the British Open by three, beating the record of 267 set by Greg Norman in 1993.
His 264 strokes over 72 holes is the lowest total in major history, surpassing the record of 265 set by David Toms at the 2001 PGA Championship.
nly 29 laps out of 63 have been signed by 27 different players in the history of the greats.
His winning total of 20 under par matches the lowest in major history, set by Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship.
At 40 years and 103 days, he is the oldest player to win his first major after Darren Clarke, who won the 2011 British Open at 42 years and 337 days.
But who is really Stenson? This Swedish gentleman, now fifth in the world ranking, where to become second (in 2014), who has carved out a great career on the major circuits (12 wins in the European and 5 in the American), started playing golf thanks to a friend whom he accompanied to a driving range. Nobody in his family played golf. Hernik played soccer and badminton. He took his first swings with his friend and was instantly hooked on golf. He asked his parents to buy him some clubs (which he still has) and at the age of 12 he started his first outings on the course. After his first summer of golf, he had dropped to an 18 handicap from the ladies tees, which became a 9 the following summer. In the first tournament he won, while still a teenager, the runner-up was Peter Gustafsson, who years later would also join the European Tour.
In 1994 he was selected to play for the Swedish national youth team, and that year he also played in the World Amateur Championship in Japan and the European Championship in Portugal.
In 1996 he made his debut as an amateur in two European Tour tournaments, the French and Spanish Opens, having been invited for having won an amateur tournament sponsored by Peugeot, sponsor of the two aforementioned Opens.
In 1997 he was the top amateur at the Scandinavian Masters and after the tournament he drove 1,350 kilometers to see his girlfriend and future wife, Emma Lofgren. “A trip I’ll never repeat again, the things you do when you’re in love!” he says now.
The following year, in the fall, he turned pro with fellow countryman Peter Hanson and the two went to Argentina to play three tournaments on the South American Tour. He was fourteenth in his professional debut.
In 1999 he enrolled in two circuits, the Swedish and the Challenge Tour. At the end of that season he tried to earn his European Tour card at the Qualifying School, but narrowly missed out. The following year he more than achieved his goal by winning the Challenge Order of Merit, which gave him a direct place on the 2001 European Tour. Sky Channel commentator Robert Lee then nicknamed him the Iceman.
In his debut year on the European Tour, Stenson has already achieved the first of his twelve victories so far on the Tour, in addition to the five victories on the American Tour.
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