Henrik Stenson admitted he was pleasantly surprised with his scoring as he kept himself firmly in contention heading into the weekend at the 2021 D+D Real Czech Masters.
The Swede did not arrive at Albatross Golf Resort with his best form, having slipped out of the top 200 in the Official World Golf Ranking and not played since The Open Championship.
After taking four weeks off, he will now play four in a row as he looks to give Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington some food for thought ahead of the team for Whistling Straits being finalised after the BMW PGA Championship next month.
And that mission could not have got off to a much better start, with the 2016 Open Champion carding rounds of 67-69 to sit at eight under in Prague.
"I was expecting to give it my best," he said. "I’ve got four tournaments to build some momentum to be in the hat that Padraig is going to pick three names out of.
"I expected to give it my best and scoring-wise it’s probably better than I was hoping for coming in from three weeks off.
"I’ve done some practice but haven’t been playing a lot of golf on the course as of late, so it’s nice to be out there and keep the scores going in these first two rounds."
The two time Race to Dubai champion was bogey free over his first 36 holes and gave the credit for that largely to his putter.
Scoring-wise it’s probably better than I was hoping for coming in from three weeks off
"I think that speaks volumes of my putting, course management and some tidy shots around the greens when I have been missing," he said.
"I definitely give my putting the biggest credit these first two days as to why we’re bogey-free and in a good position.
"There’s more to ask with the long game but I still hit fairways and greens, I want a bit more than I have produced these two days but we’re in good shape and I’m looking forward to the weekend."
