From a Correspondent
Bedminster, New Jersey: Henrik Stenson stood on top of the podium pm Sunday, holding aloft the winner’s trophy after a spectacular LIV Golf debut at Bedminster.
The 2016 Open Champion from Sweden was enjoying the moment.
It was his 22nd career worldwide victory, and Stenson’s 2-under 69 left him at 11 under, two shots clear of Matthew Wolff and Dustin Johnson.
His reward was the trophy, the first-place check of $4 million, and a confirmation that he remains one of the world’s top players.
“I’m super-proud of the focus I managed to have this week,” said the 46-year-old.
“I’ve been working really hard to get my game back in shape, and it’s certainly going in the right direction as we know now.”
Also going in the right direction are 4 Aces GC. The foursome, captained by Johnson and including Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez, won the team title for the second consecutive LIV event.
In Portland, they won by seven strokes but rarely seemed threatened. In Bedminster, they won by eight strokes but the issue was in doubt midway in the round.
At one point, Stenson and his Majesticks GC – captained by Lee Westwood – briefly held the team lead.
See-saw battle
At other times, the two teams were tied. But the Aces pulled away in the final few holes to take the $3 million first-place prize at 25 under.
Majesticks GC finished on 17 under, while the all-Spanish speaking Fireballs GC finished at 12 under and in third place for the second consecutive event.
“Through 10 or 11 holes, I think we were tied, so it was a lot different,” said Johnson, who was in the final group with Stenson and Reed.
“Obviously, I was playing with Pat and we’re all watching the leaderboard and especially watching the team score.
“Today, we knew we needed to play some good golf to finish if we wanted to win this tournament as a team, and also we were both right in the mix trying to chase down Henrik.”
Chasing Stenson, however, proved to be too difficult.
He started the day with a three-shot lead over Johnson, and by the first hole, the lead was five, thanks to a Stenson birdie and a Johnson bogey after an errant drive forced the 4 Aces captain to chip back onto the fairway.
Neither Johnson nor Reed could get the putter going, and Stenson never opened the door. His only bogey of the day came at the par-5 15th, and he still walked off with a two-stroke lead.
Credit his 3-wood, a club that he’s leaned on plenty of times during his career and certainly at Bedminster this week in order to avoid the rough and other trouble areas.
“It’s been an important club most of my career I’d say, and yeah, I certainly hit some good ones this week,” Stenson said.
Big numbers
“I think the golf course obviously set up nicely for me. It’s a lot of positional play off the tee, and we surely found a big number of fairways this week.
“First day in particular I played really, really solid. Yesterday was a little bit more of a grind, and then today we played pretty good for the most round.
“It was a little bit wobbly coming home, but we’ll take it in the end, and yeah, the 3-wood didn’t do me any harm.”
Wolff started the day seven strokes off the pace but was the only player who mounted a significant charge in the final round.
His bogey-free 7-under 64 left him at 9 under, two strokes behind Stenson and on the tiebreaker rule, Wolff was awarded second place ahead of Johnson.
Wolff, who made his LIV Golf debut in Portland and plays for Hy Flyers GC, credited a recent swing thought as a difference-maker.
He said it involved leaving his hands at the top a little longer so that he doesn’t get too quick and hit it left. (courtesy livgolf.com)
Team leaderboard
| Teams | Scores |
| 1. 4 Aces GC (-25) | Dustin Johnson 68 Patrick Reed 69 Pat Perez 71 |
| 2. Majesticks GC (-17) | Henrik Stenson 69 Sam Horsfield 70 Lee Westwood 71 |
| 3. Fireballs GC (-12) | Carlos Ortiz 68 Sergio Garcia 69 Eugenio Chacarra 71 |
| 4. Hy Flyers GC (-9) | Matthew Wolff 64 Justin Harding 70 Phil Mickelson 71 |
| 5. Stinger GC (-8) | Branden Grace 68 Louis Oosthuizen 70 Hennie du Plessis 71 |
| 6. Crushers GC (-4) | Paul Casey 66 Shaun Norris 70 Charles Howell III 73 |
| 7. Niblicks GC (-4) | Hudson Swafford 70 James Piot 71 Turk Pettit 71 |
| 8. Smash GC (-2) | Brooks Koepka 66 Chase Koepka 71 Richard Bland 73 |
| 9. Cleeks GC (E) | Laurie Canter 70 Martin Kaymer 71 Graeme McDowell 73 |
| 10. Iron Heads GC (+3) | Sadom Kaewkanjana 73 Phachara Khongwatmai 73 Kevin Na 75 |
| 11. Punch GC (+7) | Matt Jones 69 Travis Smyth 73 Wade Ormsby 75 |
| 12. Torque GC (+10) | Hideto Tanihara 71 Jinichiro Kozuma 73 Ryosuke Kinoshita 73 |
Performance stats
Driving distance: Paul Casey, 338.8 yards avg.
Longest drive: Paul Casey, 360 yards.
Driving accuracy: Louis Oosthuizen, 93% (13 of 14 fairways)
Greens in regulation” Lee Westwood, 94% (17 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Matthew Wolff, 100% (4 of 4)
Fewest putts: Sergio Garcia, 23 putts
Bogey-free round: Matthew Wolff (64)
Also read: Stenson sits on three-shot lead over DJ after LIV Golf Intl Day 2
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