The Golf Blog Masters preview: Henrik Stenson

We've already talked about two young guns who may make noise at the Masters this year -- Aaron Baddeley and Charles Howell III. Today, it's Henrik Stenson's turn.

The 31-year-old Swede is currently 6th in the World Golf Rankings and 9th on the Money List. He won the Match Play Championship and placed 19th at the World Golf - CA Championships. He's 1st in average distance of putts made, third in putting average (1.702), and 8th in scoring average (69.58). His driving is not as good, though: 189th in accuracy, 63rd in distance, and 182 in greens in regulation. He also won in Dubai this year in a field that included Tiger Woods. Stenson has played only in 1 Masters (last year), missing the cut.

Why I like Stenson? The guy has a solid golf game and has competed at the highest level at the World Golf Championship events. He has 9 tournament victories, worldwide. His putting is lights out, but the Masters is notorious for being 13-14 on the stimp meter. Again, inexperience at Augusta may hurt. The last European to win the Masters was in 1999 (Jose Maria Olazabal). No Swede has ever won.

Swete Swede: Henrik Stenson wins Match Play Championship

Validating his win earlier this year in Dubai over Tiger and others, Henrik Stenson won his first PGA tourney at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Stenson beat US Open champion and last year's Match Play champion Geoff Ogilvy. (More here)

What's next for Stenson? Probably a Major, perhaps even this year.

Did anyone else watch The Golf Channel Update?

On Friday, I was working out at my local gym and was watching The Golf Channel's coverage of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championships. While I enjoyed their coverage, I almost fell off the elliptical machine when the coverage went into what I think was the "Sprint Update" or something similar. (For those of you who didn't watch or haven't watched, the "Sprint Update", which is what I believe it is called, goes through all of the happenings in golf, including updating listeners to the current status of the tournaments being played.)

Anyways, during the "Update", the woman reporter stated that Henrik Stenson was "3 strokes ahead" and that Tiger was closing in on O'Hern and was only "1 stroke back." Now, for golf fans and even those who are not golf fans, match play is not determined by "Strokes" but instead by "holes won." So, the appropriate report would have been that Stenson was "3 up" and Tiger was "1 down" and disregarded this "stroke" talk.

Now, I hate to complain, but I felt like I was watching a local news cast where the reporter knows nothing about golf. However, I was watching THE GOLF CHANNEL, which I would EXPECT to have reporters who could distinguish between match play and stroke play.

I just wonder if this reporter will lose her job over such a BIG mistake on THE golf cable channel?

UPDATE: According to an anonymous post, I am incorrect. However, if someone wants to check their Tivo or DVR, I was working out from 4:10pm-5:45pm EST. And, I am 99% sure that it happened.

Henrik Stenson wins biggest trophy ever?

As mulligan reported earlier, Henrik Stenson won in Dubai today, beating both Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. For his victory, Stenson won what appears to me to be the biggest golf trophy ever. Take a look here.

Ernie Els beats Tiger Woods, but loses to Henrik Stenson

In Dubai, things did not turn out as we expected. Both Ernie Els and Tiger Woods struggled on the front nine, due to blustery winds -- Ernie bogeyed 3 of the first 6 holes, while Tiger bogeyed 3 of the first 11 holes. Ernie ended up shooting 1-under, while Tiger shot 3-under. Ernie finished at -18, Tiger at -17.

But that left the door open for Henrik Stenson, who shot a 4-under to finish at -19. Stenson had local knowledge because he now lives in Dubai and is a member of the golf club where the tourney is played. But Stenson did face one dangeous moment. According to ESPN, "On the ninth hole, his drive to the green got blown onto the roof of a spectators' pavilion. The referee forced the Swede to make a precarious climb to the roof to identify his ball before allowing him a penalty-free drop. Stenson said he scraped his ribs making the climb." Ouch. Next time, send your caddy! Leaderboard.