Henrik Stenson returns fresh off a victory at the BMW International Open for this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, looking to fine tune his game for the Open Championship, which starts next week Thursday.
The Scottish Open returns to Castle Stuart Golf Links after a two-year absence and Stenson has fond memories of his last outing on the course. In two trips there the Swede has finished in a share of eighth place in 2012 and tied-third last time out in 2013.
The 40-year-old’s win in Germany was just reward for his efforts this season after six runner-up finishes last year. His statistics on the European Tour make for impressive reading this season where he ranks first in stroke average, third in driving accuracy and third in greens in regulation. His only weakness seems to be his putting where he ranks 48th on tour, although his average of 29 putts per round is not too bad. The focus in his game this week should be on the greens.
The Gothenburg-born golfer will be tested with his putting on a links layout and needs to get the flat stick working if he wants to challenge at Royal Troon in a week’s time. The good news for Stenson is that his tied-third place at the Scottish Open in 2013 was backed up with a career-best second-place finish a week later at The Open held at Muirfield.
A repeat performance will please Stenson, but he needs another strong performance first, starting this week at Castle Stuart Golf Links.
