Stenson's precision results in TPC win
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- As good sports go, Emma Stenson was a pretty decent one. She endured the ribbing, dealt with the good-natured abuse, bit her lip.
Her husband stood on a golf course in nothing but his underwear, for all the world to see, bringing him more fame than anything he had ever done with his clubs.
"I more enjoy this," she said early Sunday evening in celebratory mode. "I prefer him doing this."
She was, of course, referring to husband Henrik's undressing of the Stadium Course on Sunday at the TPC Sawgrass, a 6-under-par 66 that left everyone else at The Players Championship feeling a bit exposed while he won the biggest tournament of his career.
Stenson, you might recall, stripped to his skivvies back in March at Doral when his ball came to rest in a water hazard. Without a rain suit and with several more holes to play, the Swede figured he'd ruin his wardrobe in mud if he attempted to play the shot.
So off came all of his clothes, leaving him to play the shot wearing nothing but his under shorts and a golf glove.
Nobody remembers how Stenson performed in the tournament, but they didn't forget that episode.
"I thought I was going to see the picture a few times and get a few nice comments and so on, but you guys [in the media] turned it into a worldwide thing," Stenson said. "It was just flying everywhere, 143 articles when I Googled it. It was just everywhere.
"A lot of publicity for the game obviously, a lot of publicity for me, and I managed to get a few new fans, which is nice. I guess I got as much attention off that thing as from my results the last 10 years. That's the way it felt like.
"This is obviously going to be the latest thing on the résumé."
And a pretty big thing at that.
With his wife, daughter and parents in attendance, Stenson, 33, put on a clinic in winning his second PGA Tour title to go along with six victories on the European Tour.
He hit 13 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and needed just 27 putts to overtake third-round leader Alex Cejka, who faltered to a final-round 79 -- a 13-stroke swing.
The Players Championship Leaderboard
1. Stenson (-12)
2. Poulter (-8)
T-3. Mallinger (-7)
T-3. Na (-7)
T-5. Crane (-6)
T-5. Davis (-6)
T-5. Furyk (-6)
• Complete scores
Stenson began the day in a six-way tie for second, 5 strokes behind Cejka. The Swede was tied with Tiger Woods, Jonathan Byrd, Retief Goosen, Ben Crane and Ian Poulter heading into the final round. None of those other players shot in the 60s.
In fact, Stenson's 66 was 3 strokes better than any player who started among the top 27 entering the final round.
"Pretty incredible," said Woods, who could manage just a 73 and was all but out of it by the turn. "He played great. We all know he's got all the talent in the world to do this. It was just a matter of time before he put it together. To do it on this stage was pretty impressive."
Woods still managed to finish eighth, his 15th consecutive top-10 in PGA Tour stroke play events.
On a treacherous TPC course that played every bit like a major championship venue over the weekend, Stenson managed to hit 26 of 28 fairways during the final two rounds.
And that is interesting to note when you consider where he was with his game eight years ago. Stenson was so out of sorts at the 2001 European Open that he walked off the course in midround because he had no idea where his tee shots were going.
Described as a form of the "yips," Stenson tried desperate measures, such as practicing with his eyes shut.
"I felt depressed and embarrassed to be seen on the golf course," he said.
But Stenson worked his way out of the slump to the point where he became a world-class player, twice a member of the European Ryder Cup team. He entered The Players Championship ranked ninth in the world and has now risen to No. 5.
In 2008, he tied for third at the Open Championship and was fourth at the PGA Championship before winning the World Cup for Sweden (with Robert Karlsson) and then capturing the Sun City Challenge in South Africa.
"This is definitely up there, if not the best final round I've done," Stenson said. "It's just going to give me a lot of confidence going into the majors, and obviously if I can play as well as I did today, I'm sure I can do it on a Sunday at the majors."
Making the victory even more special was the fact that his wife, daughter and parents were here to witness it. Stenson is not a member of the PGA Tour -- the victory gives him a five-year exemption if he wishes to take it -- because he makes his home in Dubai and felt it easier to concentrate on the European Tour.
His caddie, Fanny Sunesson, described the final round as "very impressive," and she knows a thing or two about such things, having been Nick Faldo's longtime caddie.
Faldo never played a shot in his underwear, however, something for which Stenson has had a hard time living down.
Twenty-seven years ago, when the Players was first staged at this controversial venue, Jerry Pate famously dived into the lake next to the 18th green, taking then-commissioner Deane Beman and course architect Pete Dye with him.
Under the circumstances, with a paycheck for $1.71 million in tow, Stenson resisted the urge to repeat history -- even some of his own -- although he had his wife's approval.
"I don't mind that," she said. "As long as he keeps them on."
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
