What's in my bag? Henrik Stenson

[golfdigest]

(Golf Digest, June 2007)

What's in my bag? Henrik Stenson



Age: 31/Lives: Dubai/Story: First PGA Tour victory came at the 2007 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Photos: Stenson: Darren Carroll/Equipment: Dom Furore and Stephen Szurlej

Interviewed by Mark Soltau
Golf Digest, June 2007

MY FAIR CADDIE
I started working with Fanny Sunesson in November 2006. She's a great, experienced caddie, and I think we're going to have some really good tournaments together. She's also my candy supplier. I don't miss Sweden too much because Fanny remembers to bring the Swedish licorice to events.

IMPORTANT ADVICE
I often see amateurs take less club than they should on approach shots, especially par 3s. Most of the trouble around greens--bunkers or water--is generally short. Take extra club, and even if you hit it perfectly, you'll just end up a little past the pin.

RYDER CUP VS. WGC
The Ryder Cup was an even greater experience than I expected. I was happy to be a part of the 2006 team and to have won, but winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play was more rewarding. Golf's an individual sport. When you're part of a team, you can do well and lose, or do badly and win. That said, I'd still love to make the European team in 2008.

SECOND CAREER?
If I weren't a professional golfer, I'd be in business, selling and buying something. Probably licorice in Sweden.

DIRTY HARRY
I like old Clint Eastwood movies. My favorite is "Where Eagles Dare," 1968.




My driver is a 9.5-degree Callaway FT-3. The shaft is a 45-inch Grafalloy Blue, X-flex, tipped 1.5 inches.

See what other clubs Henrik Stenson has in his golf bag.

To read more tour players' descriptions of the clubs they play and why, check out the "What's in my bag?" archives.

[dansrixon]

:rolleyes:

[golfdigest]

I asked Golf World Equipment Editor Mike Johnson if he's seen the prototype irons Stenson put in his bag last week, and if there are photos. So far, no pics. Let's hope DanSrixon can pull some strings and give us a sneak peek...

I checked the transcripts of Stenson's last couple of tournament press conferences, and can't find any mentions of the irons. He did say this at The Players after the third round:

 

Q. Since winning the Accenture, and sort of notified who you were to the U.S. and people -- I thought, myself, you'd do a lot better, perhaps, the next couple of months. What's happened? Are you happy with your game or is it just --

HENRIK STENSON: No, I've been struggling with my game. I haven't been happy with either the putting or the striking. I had a couple of weeks where I've been fighting pretty good and I had a couple of good scores, but I don't feel that I've been playing very well at all. And as I said, everybody is allowed to have a bit of a bad spell at times. I'm working hard on my game, I had my coach over, and it seems that we've got it somewhat going in the right direction. If it doesn't happen this week --

 

Q. You were talking about, and justifiably about the first European to win a major for a while?

HENRIK STENSON: It didn't happen --

 

Q. But obviously you had that stretch with Dubai and Accenture, you were really going well?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, that's the way; sometimes you just get good spells and sometimes you don't. I think all you can do is just try and stay as positive as you can and work on your game, because that's what brings the results in the long run. I had a long season last year and played a lot early this year. I'm playing the next two weeks, and then I'm only playing two weeks out of the next seven. We're having a baby, as well. There are a lot of things going on. I need a break in the middle of the summer and come back fresh in the fall.

 

Q. When is your baby due?

HENRIK STENSON: Early July. I don't show a lot these days (laughter).

 

Q. Roughly the same time as --

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, and probably been talking more about baby stuff than normal.

 

And he said this on Wednesday at the AT&T Classic:

 

Q. In terms of putting your schedule together, and particularly for you since you're from overseas, how do you gauge how much your body can do? How many weeks in a row will you play before your playing starts to suffer or your concentration starts to suffer? What is the benchmark for you?

HENRIK STENSON: I think normally it's the head that suffers before the body, but for me it feels pretty good to play three or four in a row and then try to have two weeks off. I've found in the last couple years that I gain more by having at least two weeks off in a row because you've got time to rest and practice and prepare before coming out again. If you've only got one week off, you tend not to have time to practice that much and then you sort of come in a little bit unprepared out to the tournaments again. But about four weeks is a good cycle for me.

 

Q. Do you believe that a tournament such as this would ever -- whatever qualifications it might have, could suffer because it's at the end of a streak of long well-thought-of tournaments such as Wachovia and PLAYERS?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, it's always tougher to be right after a major or World Golf Championship or something like that, but that's the way it works out. Some tournament is always going to be there. It's a different year this year compared to the previous ones. I think this is still a good spot because you have a course in very good condition. That's always going to attract players, as well.

 

Q. Did you have any specific reasons for putting this tournament on your schedule?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, I mean, just as we mentioned here, this is the third week out of a four-week stretch for me, and I'm heading back to Europe and playing PGA Championship at Wentworth next week, so it worked out really well for me to play this week. I'm sort of hungry to do better than I did last year.

 

Q. I was going to ask you, are you going to play exclusively here or are you going to jump back over and play the European Tour?

HENRIK STENSON: I'm playing both sides of the Atlantic, so I guess it will be about the regular events that I play -- will be probably about the same in Europe as over here, and then with six or seven big ones being in America, still more going to be played in the U.S.

 

Q. Is that a hard balance to strike?

HENRIK STENSON: I mean, I'm still in -- this is my first year I'm a member, and I'm trying it out. The schedule decides a lot, as well, how difficult you make it. It all depends on what tournaments you're trying to play and where they're at in the schedule and so on, but it's worked out pretty good so far.

[dansrixon]

He just put the 701's into play last week...they are still stamped with 506 on them though even though they are the new iron. I will post pics as soon as I am allowed. But any pics anyone can get from the tour are fair game....If anyone has practice day tickets next week Jim will be trying out his new set of 701's that jsut arrived from Japan, he may not put them in play but they will def get some range use early in the week.

[AcesAZ]

Grafalloy Blue X tipped 1.5 inches? I bet that thing is a board!!!

[7D2]

what shaft is on that hybrid

[Montrove]

what shaft is on that hybrid

That would be an Aldila VS Proto 85 my friend.

[JKB]

what shaft is on that hybrid

That would be an Aldila VS Proto 85 my friend.

 

Sorry its a Grafalloy Blue Proto

[plastic jock]

see more are adapting an M3 for him with a version of the rifle scope idea that allows you to have offset hosel such as an anser or the s bend shft of the White hot #5

[villa]

what shaft is on that hybrid

That would be an Aldila VS Proto 85 my friend.

 

Sorry its a Grafalloy Blue Proto

 

Unless he's recently changed, this is the quote from the article:

 

WHAT'S IN MY BAG? HENRIK STENSON

I play a 17-degree Titleist 585 H hybrid with an Aldila VS prototype Blue shaft, 40.5 inches. Like all my woods, the swingweight is D-3.

[Constantin]

Grafalloy Blue X tipped 1.5 inches? I bet that thing is a board!!!

 

Does anybody know HS' clubhead speed? Either he has a huge SS number or a really quick transition at the top. Otherwise this tree trunk of a shaft wouldn't load I suppose.

[dansrixon]

Just to clairify...Stenson is playing the regular 701's, Jim's are 701 Tours. Apparently Stenson likes the bigger sole of the 701's over the thinner sole of the 701 tours.