World Matchplay Championship: Sweden's Henrik Stenson held his nerve to win the World Matchplay Championship, beating defending champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia 2 and 1 in yesterday's 36-hole final at Dove Mountain.
The 30-year-old from Gothenburg became only the second European to win the event, joining Darren Clarke, the 2000 champion. And he did it the hard way, coming from two-down after 26 holes.
After taking a two-up lead after 18 holes, Stenson was all over the map at the start of the second round, making four quick bogeys as momentum clearly shifted in the US Open champion Ogilvy's favour. But he missed a short five-footer at the 27th hole, which turned out to be the pivotal point of the match.
A clearly buoyed Stenson won the 29th hole with a par and the 30th with a birdie to regain the lead. He really applied the pressure on Ogilvy at the 34th hole, the par-three 16th.
From there, the ninth seed only had to halve one of the final two holes to clinch his maiden USPGA Tour victory on the par-five 35th hole. It is Stenson's second successive victory, following hot on the heels of the Dubai Desert Classic, and the $1.35million first prize lifts him to first on the European Tour Order of Merit.
With Chad Campbell's semi-final defeat to Ogilvy, there was no American interest in the final for the first time since the championship began in 1999. And it showed. Interest in the clash between Ogilvy and Stenson was decidedly low-key, with little or no traffic on Tangerine Road shortly before the 8.10am start.
With the attendance limited to just 7,000 fans for the final day, just 500 souls braved chilly morning temperatures to get out and watch two of golf's most exciting players locks horns in matchplay combat. Even the press room was sparsely populated.
The first 18 holes of the scheduled 36 produced a heady mix of eagles (one), birdies (six) and bogeys (seven), before Stenson strode in for lunch with a two-hole lead, his wraparound shades hiding his determination to win the title and move from eighth to fifth in the world rankings.
With just one American player making it through to the last four - Campbell - even the mighty US networks betrayed their lack of interest in this Championship with ESPN failing to spell Stenson's first name correctly in their captions, calling his "Henrick" rather than Henrik.
Never mind the fact that Stenson had holed the winning putt in Europe's record-equalling Ryder Cup win at The K Club last September or held off both Woods and Ernie Els to claim last month's Dubai Desert Classic.
Just last August, Stenson led the USPGA Championship. Yet he fully understands why the great American public forgets so quickly.
"I think America is a big country and golf is big. But I guess to some extent it's easy to look at the tournaments within the United States and maybe forget a little bit about the rest of the world," said Stenson, who has taken up membership of the PGA Tour.
"I've played pretty good for the last two years and made my way up the world rankings. I think just playing over here is going to make me a little bit more familiar for the general golf fan."
His power off the tee makes him an intimidating opponent and he showed that straight away in the crisp morning air when he reduced the 588-yard opening hole to a 350-yard drive, a mid-iron and an eight-foot putt to go one up on Ogilvy.
A conceded birdie at the next put him two up, before the 29-year-old Adelaide native clicked into top gear by winning the next four holes on the trot to turn a two-hole deficit into a two-hole advantage.
If Stenson needed any reminding of the size the task facing him, he got it at the par-five fifth, where Ogilvy hit a 296-yard three-wood to just two-and-a-half feet to go up in the match for the first time.
Stenson won the short, par-four seventh with a birdie to get back to one down and then stole the 10th with a sand shot to two feet as Ogilvy three-putted from nearly 80 feet.
The Australian had left his approach putt some seven feet short of the hole and his miss there set the tone for the remainder of the first 18 holes of the final.
Three putts at the 11th cost him the chance to regain his lead, and it was almost inevitable that Stenson should steal the 12th in classic matchplay fashion by chipping in from 20 feet for a birdie as Ogilvy weighed up a five-footer that looked certain to give him the hole.
After Stenson's chip-in, Ogilvy inevitably missed his putt to go one down, and three holes later Stenson doubled his advantage.
The Details
(US unless stated)
Quarter-finals
Nick O'Hern (Aus) lost to Henrik Stenson (Swe) 1 down; Justin Rose (Eng) lost to Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 5 and 4; Chad Campbell bt Stephen Ames (Can) 1 up; Paul Casey (Eng) lost to Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 5 and 4.
Semi-finals
Stenson bt Immelman 3 and 2; Ogilvy bt Campbell 3 and 2.
Third Place Play-off
Immelman bt Campbell 4 and 2.
Final
Stenson bt Ogilvy 2 and 1
