	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 14, 2015

Henrik Stenson

Kohler, Wisconsin, USA

Q. Bit of a stumble coming down the stretch, but a really strong round of 66 today to get your self a couple more days in this championship?
HENRIK STENSON: It wasn't looking like that yesterday afternoon for sure. So I had a bit of a pick up finish yesterday. I made birdie on 16 and then two pars to shoot 4-over. So I was in a spot where I really needed to make some birdies today if I wanted to stick around.

I got off to a hot start, 10, 11, birdie, birdie. Made a good birdie on 15, 16, and a good birdie on 17. So, it was a good up-and-down for par. So I hit the turn 5-under. That was the start we needed and then made a few more and saved myself on one or two occasions, and then really didn't do too much wrong other than missing the fairway on 8, really.

I had wind switch on the tee shot on 7, so I played the hole a lot longer and I left myself a 60-footer and hit a good putt that just bobbled out.

So, really a good save on 9 and then tee shot on 8 was really the only mistake that cost me a shot, really.

Q. Just the difference in conditions or did you play much better today?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I didn't score well yesterday. I played all right. Actually, I played a whole lot better than what the score showed and then it was just tougher conditions in the afternoon, as you know. It was, I guess, a good two-shot swing from playing in the morning to the afternoon. And that certainly didn't help when I was not scoring the way I should. So, yeah, at least good to see that I can get a good round in on this golf course, because I haven't managed that in the past and hopefully we got another couple in us.

Q. A couple more 66s you'll be in good shape?
HENRIK STENSON: Let's hope for that.

Q. When anyone gets off to a start like you did, people think, oh, maybe this will be the round that is the 62 in a Major. Why is that? Why is it so hard to go under a 63 in a Major?
HENRIK STENSON: I think it's hard to go under 63 in any golf tournament, never mind a Major. You got to play really good, and this course is a little kind of misleading on the scoring. If you're playing a good round, you're doing at least two-thirds of it on the back nine, I would say, for most of the guys.

So I got off to a good start on the back nine and shot 5-under, and then picked up a few shots and kept it going with one or two good par putts as well. So, yeah, I mean, it was just small margins, we had a wind switch on 7, came up really short and hit a really good second putt. And it was one I said in my mind, I said that's nice, that's right in the middle. With a foot left it took a bit of a stumble and lipped out.

And then I missed the tee ball on 8 and that put me in trouble and I couldn't manage to save par, but made a good up-and-down on the last. It's just, you know, to shoot 10-under you got to really play so well and get the good breaks and everything else, so I had a chance to bring it home in probably 8-under, which would have been fabulous, but 6-under is still a good score and at least it put me back in the tournament somewhat.

Q. You had some good form coming in here, how surprising is yesterday's score for you?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I didn't play that bad, I just lost my patience towards the end there. It was a tough day. I made one or two bad decisions that cost me, mainly going for the -- missed the short putt on 4 in gusty conditions and I went for the green on 5 and hit it over the back and ended up with a bogey.

So it was a bit of an uphill struggle from there on and then I had good, two good chances on 10 and 11. I made a mess out of those ones. So, if you're not scoring the way you should on a tough day, it was, yeah, it just turned into a bad round and I didn't play that bad. So at least good to get the score right today.

Q. How much do conditions matter? Obviously yesterday and today the wind was very brutal yesterday afternoon, this morning it seemed a little bit easier, how much did that affect you?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, absolutely, it definitely makes a big difference. It was tough in the afternoon and then Rory shoots 71 and that was the third best round.

David played fantastic in the afternoon to shoot 5-under. And he's right up there on the leaderboard. So, it was tough yesterday and definitely makes a bit the same at the Open Championship when you played late the first day, you see all three, four, 5-under par on the leaderboard and then you go out and it's really hard to break par. So, yeah, it kind of putts us in the back a little bit, but at least managed to make up some ground today.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297