“It's been a great year, the best year of my career.”
For the past 12 months, fans around the world have witnessed the remarkable talent of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, known synonymously in golfing circles as “The Iceman”.
As the accolades continue to roll in for the 2016 Race to Dubai champion, we would agree that it has most certainly been the year of Stenson.
He tasted victory first at the BMW International Open in June before lifting the Claret Jug less than a month later at The 145th Open Championship. A silver medal at the Olympics followed and, with top ten finishes in his final three tournaments of the year, Stenson was crowed the winner of the Race to Dubai for the second time in his career, and named the 2016 European Tour Golfer of the Year.
Sitting towards the top of the table across many of the statistics, Stenson was one of the most consistent performers on the European Tour with ten top ten finishes in 2016 - including his two victories - which takes his career tally to 11 European Tour titles.
The 40 year old led the way in stroke accuracy with 69.14 – a career best – and, although his driving distance dropped ever so slightly, he was rated number two in both his driving accuracy and greens in regulation.
It felt like my turn
History will show that The 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon was one for the ages, as two of golf’s greatest modern day players produced one of the finest final rounds ever witnessed in the sport.
I felt like it was my time. You can't guarantee it by any means and I had to play some great golf to get there but I believed in myself and did a great job out there.
Coming into the final round with a one-shot advantage over American Phil Mickelson, the Swede was meticulous in all aspects of his game, going on to birdie the final hole to finish at 20 under par with a 63 and beat his American rival by three shots.
As well as becoming Sweden's first Major champion, Stenson broke a host of records including the lowest total to par in Open history and the lowest ever final round by a winner.
His 63 - a total matched by Mickelson on Thursday - equalled the lowest round in Major history and his 264 aggregate score is the lowest ever in a Major Championship.
"You feel the pressure. As a Swede we've had a couple of close calls over the years. There's been many before that tried and I'm just delighted that I made it for Sweden and all the other guys that tried in past years," he said. "It's a sweet moment.
"When you're fighting as hard as I have done out there today and against Phil for a number of days now, it's just relief when you're coming off the 18th and you know it's done. I'm delighted but it hasn't sunk in yet.”
With the Claret Jug in tow, plus a confidence boosting win at the BMW International Open just weeks earlier, Stenson was determined to carry on his spectacular form into the second half of the year.
Silver lining
Proudly flying the Swedish flag in Rio de Janeiro, Stenson was involved in another career first – this time claiming a silver medal in the Men's Olympic Golf Competition.
As fans around the world watched the return of golf to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years, Stenson relished the opportunity to represent his country on the world stage.
It was the battle that ensued with good friend and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose that was the talk of the event. Going into the final round in Brazil one shot behind Rose, the pair were level on the 18th tee but a Stenson bogey coupled with a Rose birdie handed gold to the Briton.
"I wanted to put myself in contention and fight it out for the medals and I did that."
You play for your country and I think I did that pretty well today. I was hoping it was going to be a battle with me and Justin for the gold and the silver and it was in the end.
Close call at Ryder Cup
Making his fourth appearance for Europe at Hazeltine National where he claimed two important points, including an impressive 3&2 singles victory over Jordan Spieth, it was not enough to prevent the United States from reclaiming the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008.
“It was a tough one to lose in the singles against him at Gleneagles. I don't think I've played that poorly this week by any means, but I haven't been getting too many points. So I didn't want to let it slip today, and came out with some good game and kept very focused and I did my thing. I was happy with the outcome, but it hurts to lose as a team.”
All roads lead to Dubai
Stenson won the Race to Dubai for the second time after a brilliant final round at Jumeirah Golf Estates confirmed his status as European Tour Number One.
“I'm very pleased to get my name on this trophy once again,” he said.
“I'm very pleased to get my name on this trophy once again,” he said.
“It's been a great year, the best year of my career. I've always thought it was going to be hard to top 2013, but I think I've done that this year. Maybe not to the level of golf over six months, but certainly with the highlights of winning The Open, the Olympics and managed to win the Race to Dubai again. So it's been a great year and it feels lovely to finish in this way.”
