Henrik Stenson may have spent the best part of two decades travelling the world on the European Tour, but this week’s WGC–Mexico Championship will see the Swede break new ground.
The World Number Five is in typically excellent form ahead of the year’s first World Golf Championships event, having finished eighth in Abu Dhabi and second in Dubai in his two starts of 2017 to date.
In fact, since the last WGC of 2016 – where The Open Champion finished second in China – Stenson has added another five consecutive top-ten finishes.
And Stenson is looking forward to what he describes as a “tricky” test at Chapultepec Golf Club.
“It’s my first trip to Mexico,” said Stenson. “I've been traveling the world for 20 plus years and never been to Mexico, so it's a first for me and so far, so good.
“Everyone seems to be very excited to have the event here. I could tell on the fans out on the golf course, I just came off now, played the back nine and there's a lot of requests for autographs and selfies and I think everyone's very excited for the week ahead, so that's good.
“That's good for the game of golf to take an event like this to new territory, and yeah, we should have a good week ahead. It's kind of an old style tree lined golf course. It's a bit tricky.”
“Everyone seems to be very exblockquoted to have the event here. - Stenson
While Stenson is chasing a second WGC title this week, having won the 2007 Accenture Match Play, the 40 year old also has half an eye on the Masters Tournament, with 2017’s first Major looming large at the end of a busy six-week run.
“Augusta is always on the mind when you start a new season and that is the first major of the year and something we're working towards,” he added. “I'm here this week, this is my first tournament of five out of six weeks with Augusta being the last one, so of course I'm trying to pick up some pace and form and work towards having a good game coming into Augusta.
“I think this week patience is going to be key. It's always important to stay patient, but on this golf course I'm sure you can encounter a few scenarios where your patience gets tested, so it's a good week to start getting your mindset into that place.”
