Henrik Stenson enjoyed being in the company of two fellow Swedes at opposite ends of their golf careers as the first round of the 2022 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed got under way on Thursday.
Big crowds followed tournament co-host and home favourite Stenson on the opening morning at Halmstad Golf Club but it was not just the Ryder Cup Captain that they had come out to see.
Playing alongside him were 44-year-old Peter Hanson, who will call time on his DP World Tour career after this week's event, and 22-year-old Maja Stark - a rising star on the Ladies European Tour.
During his stellar career, Hanson has won six DP World Tour titles, helped Europe to Ryder Cup victory on two occasions and formed part of a successful generation of Swedish golfers, which includes Stenson.
Stark, meanwhile, is an exciting prospect, having claimed three LET titles inside the past 12 months.
She matched Stenson's first-round 70, to sit five shots behind the clubhouse leaders.
Stenson, who is co-hosting this week's event with Annika Sörenstam, enjoyed his opening day.
Peter Hanson tees it up for the 401st and final time in his career this week at the #VolvoScandinavianMixed 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/mNAmqREIlk
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 9, 2022
He said: "Even though we played earlier there were still a fair amount of people that made it out of bed early and came out to watch us play, so it was good fun.
"And playing alongside Peter Hanson here in his final DP World Tour start before going into retirement. It's great to be out with him.
"And also to see one of the real up and coming young Swedish players in Maja and she played nicely. She was a little frustrated with the score, I think, and with herself a couple of times.
"And that's just great for the future, really seeing that drive and hunger to do better. She's going to be just fine."
