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NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY GARY PLAYER

November 8, 2016

Henrik Stenson

Sun City, South Africa

Q. Happy to be back on South African soil?
HENRIK STENSON: Yes, absolutely. It's earlier than the normal slot but it's good to be back. A course where I've played some good golf in the past and been successful over the five or sex times that I've been, so, yeah, I'm looking forward to the week.

Q. A different angle and a different aspiration this week; can you feel it this early on in the week compared to past Nedbank Golf Challenges?
HENRIK STENSON: Well, it's in a different position on the schedule, even though we get it in twice in the same kind of year. It's the second-to-last event in The Race to Dubai. I'm in a good position. There's a few guys behind who wants to play some good golf, also. So I'd better keep my head down and my foot down and have a good finish here and a good finish in Dubai if I want to stay on top.

Q. You and Danny have had a good struggle out there. Have you enjoyed it?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, it's been good. I mean, I've had a really good year behind me, and it would be nice to finish it off with being Europe's No. 1. I'm sure he's going to try and find some game here the last couple of weeks and push me to the limit.

Q. How would you describe the layout here?
HENRIK STENSON: It's a course that definitely rewards hitting fairways, and if you were to miss the fairway, you've got a bit of rough and after that, it's bush and maybe a new ball. So you'd better be on your long game really, and fairways are going to be a key this week. I think the rough is pretty thick.

As always, you've got to be precise with your irons. Greens here are a little bit like a Mickey Mouse shape and you can really stick the pins out in the corners over some bunkers and you've got to be accurate, and we're playing at altitude, as well. So that doesn't make it any easier and you have to to be precise on those approaches.

Q. How much difference does the altitude make yardage-wise?
HENRIK STENSON: It's roughly ten percent I'd say. But there's still a little bit more than just ten percent, depending on what kind of club you're hitting. If you're hitting something that goes really up in the air, you're probably going to get a little bit more. And if you're hitting a 3-iron compared to a 4-iron, it might not be a full difference because it's a bit of a flatter ball flight. So it takes some guesswork, as well, but roughly ten percent.

Q. And the kikuyu grass, is that something some of the boys will have to get used?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, it's a different grass. It's very sticky. Ball tends to sit up on top, but once it gets down in it, it takes a big bash to get it anywhere out of there. So yeah, you're praying for a good lie if you hit it in the rough, that's for sure.

Q. This event usually brings out good crowds, I'm sure we'll have great ones at the weekend here. Can you describe the atmosphere here?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, it's always a lot of crowd coming out. It's a great atmosphere. I think the ones who make the journey up here to Sun City, they really like their golf and enjoy the week.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to another good week. It's a little bit earlier in the calendar year, so there might not be as many juniors able to be up here because they have exams still, but I'm sure a few will sneak away.

Q. Any fond memories that come to mind when you return here?
HENRIK STENSON: Of course, winning in 2008, I shot a very good opening round and managed to leave the field behind, really. That's my win here. I've got a couple of seconds and a couple of fourths, as well, so it's been a good hunting ground so far. Hopefully it can prove to be that once again.

I remember coming here after a Delta flight from Atlanta, I come in here four years later, and a lot of good things have happened in those four years, really the second part of my career. And yeah, 2013 was great and both 2014, 2015 were really good years, even though I was winless in 2015.

But I guess some of that disappointment was easy to forget about when we've got in the Claret Jug in our hands this last summer.

Q. What's been drunk out of it?
HENRIK STENSON: It's been mainly champagne. Some red, too, but mainly champagne.

Q. The win, has that changed anything in terms of the way you feel going into tournaments?
HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, it was kind of the final piece of the puzzle, really. I've had a long and successful career, and with or without a major, it wouldn't have been right to be unhappy about anything. But certainly that is the icing on the cake. You feel like everything else you've done gets elevated by 50 percent, really, because you have that one, as well.

Yeah, it's definitely a confidence boost, but at the same time, it's still that fresh that you get reminded so much about it, and at the same time, you want to enjoy it. You still want to move on and focus on what's in the future, not what's in the past.

It's a bit of a balance there, and now I'm doing a lot of interviews for the sports awards back in Sweden for January and different awards and prizes that there might be, and you're constantly kind of living in the past given that, but you've still got to focus on what's here. It's a great chance for me to keep that No. 1 spot, if I play some solid golf these last two tournaments.

Yeah, if I were to get anywhere near a win or win one of them, then I would imagine it would be a done deal. I've just got to go out there and try and play solid for four rounds here and for four rounds in Dubai, and hopefully that will be good enough to stay No. 1.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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