Henrik Stenson arrives at this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic in a confident mood and is hoping that a strong performance can prove a catalyst for breaking his duck in the Majors later in the season.
The nine-time European Tour winner won the title in 2007 but in recent years has not replicated his success in the season-ending DP World Championship, Dubai – which he successfully defended last November – in the longest-running of the three Desert Swing events.
The 2013 Race to Dubai champion finished last week’s Qatar Masters with an impressive six under par 66 to jump into a share of 13th place, and he feels he is closer to the kind of form which yielded nine top ten finishes in his final 12 events of the 2014 European Tour campaign.
“It's great to be back at Emirates Golf Club,” said the 39 year old. “I made Dubai my home for almost ten years and I played and practised an awful lot here at Emirates, so I feel like I know this course inside out. Then I had the success in 2007 and another couple of high finishes.
“So it’s great to be back. I will hopefully have lots of support and it's a really enjoyable week for me. I had a good finish on Saturday in Doha, the best round of the week for me, finished off with a couple birdies, and got a decent result.
“Of course, the local knowledge and slight improvement in form should give me the chance to hopefully go a little bit better than I did in Doha.”
Stenson admitted that the one thing he pines for above all else is a Major title, and has planned his schedule to give himself the best chance possible to take that next step in his long and successful career.
“It's all about giving yourself chances,” said the former Challenge Tour Number One. “I know us Swedes are going to win one sooner or later. Of course I hope it will be me.
“I'm just working hard to make sure it happens for me, because it's really the last thing missing on my CV.
“So I'm just going to try hard to be well prepared when I get to the Majors, and give myself as many chances as I can. The way I look at it, in roughly a five year period, that's 20 Majors. If I can come in well prepared, hopefully play well in a number of them and be up there, I fancy my chances I can close the deal at some point.
“Whether it happens this year or next year, whether I'm first or second of the Swedes to do it, doesn't really matter. I just want to make sure it happens.”
Seve Ballesteros and José Maria Olazábal, both multiple Major winners, are among the Spaniards to have etched their names on the iconic Omega Dubai Desert Classic trophy, and Stenson’s 2014 Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia is hoping he can add his name to that list.
The World Number Six also finished well in Qatar with a final round 67, and he is hoping to take that momentum into this week as he attempts to become the fourth Spanish player to win this event in the past six years, after Miguel Angel Jiménez (2010), Rafa Cabrera-Bello (2011) and Alvaro Quiros (2012).
“Any time you get your name on a trophy, it's a great feeling,” said the 34 year old. “It's one of the reasons why we love playing the game and why we practise so hard.
“Obviously it's going to take a lot of good things to do that. I think Dubai has done a great job, and I feel like the field this year is probably the strongest it's been probably in the last three or four years. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to take a lot of patience, a lot of good golf and some good things to happen here and there when you need them the most.
“I think we've had probably five Spanish winners, if I recall, and it would be nice to make it six this week.”
