Dubai: Sweden’s Henrik Stenson has put the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships as one of his priorities for the new season.
Stenson, who won the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates last Sunday, has indicated that winning the Falcon trophy at the event’s tenth anniversary in January would certainly be among his goals for the new year.
The 38-year-old Swede is one of the few golfers who have been part of the Abu Dhabi tournament — one of three elements of the annual Desert Swing. The best that Stenson has achieved in Abu Dhabi so far has been a couple of runner-up finishes — in 2006 and 2008 — and he believes his local knowledge can now help him achieve an elusive title next year.
“The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships is truly a world-class event on a world-class course and that is why we have had a consistent field of top golfers being attracted to this tournament. I’ve always been comfortable starting my season in this region and perhaps an extra incentive for me personally next year could be my long association with the tournament,” Stenson told media.
Earlier during the season, the Swede — who became a father of a third child earlier this year — had career-best finishes in The Masters, the US Open and PGA Championship. While playing a crucial role in Team Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph in September, Stenson also achieved the success of defending a title for the first time in his career after winning the DP World Tour Championship last Sunday. Stenson was proud to be so closely associated with the Championships and its growth over the past one decade.
“It’s been an incredible experience to be part of the tournament’s growth over the past ten years, and it is a great sense of pride that I can confirm my participation in Abu Dhabi in January,” Stenson related.
“After an incredible season last year, it has been a good year of new achievements for me and I’m feeling very confident going into 2015,” he said.
The affable Swede now has a unique opportunity of making 2015 even more memorable as he stands to become the first player to complete the clean sweep of Gulf titles. Stenson has already won the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters while picking up The Race to Dubai in 2013. “With three Gulf titles already under my belt, winning on the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club is up there at the top of my list of goals next year,” he admitted.
In Abu Dhabi, Stenson will be joined by an all-star cast that includes the likes of world number one Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose and Matteo Manassero at the January 15-18 tournament with a total prize fund of $2.7 million (Dhs9.9 million).
“It’s great to see Henrik line up alongside Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and many other world class players in what has truly become the jewel in the crown of Middle Eastern golf. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship has evolved into a genuinely world-class event. It’s clear the tournament has a place in many of the players’ hearts and everything is building nicely towards what promises to be an unmissable tenth anniversary celebration in January,” Giles Morgan, HSBC Global Head of Sponsorship and Events, noted.
