Dubai: World No 3 Henrik Stenson says he is almost back to his best after shooting a five-under-par round of 67 on day two of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Friday.
The 37-year-old Swede has struggled since becoming the first golfer to win both the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup season-ending events in the same season last year.
He teed off 2014 with a missed cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship a fortnight ago and tied for 28th place at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters last week.
Looking for salvation in the Desert Classic, which he won in 2007, Stenson hit a 66 in Tuesday’s 25th anniversary 18-hole challenge match to share victory with Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
He then hit 70 in the first round of the main event on Thursday and, after Friday’s blemish-free 67, which included three birdies on his outward nine and two on his return, he now sits seven under par for the tournament, tied for sixth four strokes behind overnight leader Rory McIlroy.
“There’s still a little bit to go,” Stenson said of his return to form. “My striking was good yesterday [Thursday] but I didn’t score that well. Today [Friday] I got the blade going and I think that’s the best I’ve putted in a long time. I was threatening every time I was on the green.
“I’m very happy with my putting and hit a couple of nice ones fairly close and kept the score together with no bogies.
“I didn’t play as good as I did on Tuesday, either yesterday [Thursday] or today [Friday], but it’s still a work in progress, still early on in the year and I’m not worried by any means. So I’ll just keep working away and hopefully we’ll get on a good run again.”
Of his chances of winning the tournament, he added: “I had a couple of really, really good putts that didn’t go in, so it could have been a few better. But 5-under is always a good score and at least we are moving in the right direction on the leaderboard.
“We’ll see where we are at the end of the day, but I did my bit. I shot a good score and there are still another two days to keep on moving up if I play well. So I’m happy.”
