   
| Stenson flourishes during round with Woods at PLAYERS  PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Henrik Stenson was extremely pleased when he saw his draw for Saturday's third round of THE PLAYERS Championship.  (WireImage)
The up-and-coming young Swede had a date with the game's No. 1 player, Tiger Woods, at 9:25 a.m. ET on the first tee of THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass. Stenson didn't think he had something to prove, like Rory Sabbatini did a week ago at the Wachovia Championship. He just thought he might focus better --- and after Friday's 76, he certainly needed to knuckle down. That mindset worked well, too. Stenson took advantage of more benign conditions Saturday, shooting a bogey-free 66 that served notice that the Stadium Course was ripe for the taking and moved him to 2 under for the tournament. "I really like playing with him, because it sort of makes me sharpen up," Stenson explained. "I had a bad day yesterday and then today to come out and shoot 10 shots better today was very pleasing. "Now, I just hope I can go out and shoot another good round tomorrow and hopefully finish up in the top 10." Or win. Stenson's round included an eagle at the par-5 16th when his 6-iron settled 10 feet from the pin. He then hit a 9-iron to 15 feet for birdie at the treacherous 17th and almost birdied the final hole, missing from 8 feet. "I'm really happy with shooting this score, it puts me back in the tournament somewhat," Stenson, who tied for third in his first PLAYERS last year, said. "It could have been 4?under on the last three, and that's always a good round here." As well as Stenson played, though, his partner struggled. Woods shot a 39 on the front nine and signed for his second consecutive 73 to drop back to 5 over for the tournament. He left the scorer's building without comment afterwards. "He was struggling," Stenson said. "He was having a rough day. We all know how hard that is and how frustrating that could be. As everybody knows he hasn't played his best this week. And I haven't played my best, either, I should add, probably. "Of course he's frustrated. But he's allowed to have a bad week, as well. I don't think everybody sort of realized that he's human. A lot of times he doesn't seem to be. He's allowed to have a bad week or a bad spell, like everybody else." The round was Woods' 10th over par in his last 15 on the Stadium Course. He has not finished higher than a tie for 11th in the five PLAYERS since his 2001 victory. Woods' struggles notwithstanding, Stenson expected more low scores as Saturday progressed. "It's definitely playing easier today with less wind," he explained. "I think everybody is getting used to the way the golf course plays. It's a big difference from last year. It was thick, juicy rough and firm, slick greens. And now it's Bermuda around the greens, which I'm not very good out of. So it's been tough for me around the greens." Stenson vaulted into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking earlier this year when he won the Dubai Desert Classic and the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in a four-week stretch. The win in Tucson came in Stenson's first start as a member of the PGA TOUR. Stenson, who now stands sixth in the world, hasn't experienced the same kind of success in the last three months, though. His best finish in his last four starts was a tie for 17th at the Masters. "I've been struggling with my game," Stenson said. "I haven't been happy with either the putting or the striking. I had a couple of weeks where I've been fighting pretty good and I had a couple of good scores, but I don't feel that I've been playing very well at all. "As I said, everybody is allowed to have a bit of a bad spell at times. I'm working hard on my game, I had my coach over, and it seems that we've got it somewhat going in the right direction. If it doesn't happen this week ..." His voice trailed off. Stenson said he's trying to stay positive and he's ready for some time off. He plans to play the next two weeks, then just two of the next seven. He and his wife Emma are expecting a baby in early July. Both Emma and Woods' wife, Elin, who is also due to deliver in July, were in their husbands' gallery on the warm, muggy Saturday at TPC Sawgrass. "There are a lot of things going on," Stenson admitted with a smile. "I need a break in the middle of the summer and come back fresh in the fall." Stenson said he doesn't expect the birth of his first child to change the way he approaches the game. If anything, he thinks it will have a positive influence. "I think I might try and have a little bit better quality in my practice and everything that I do so it leaves me a little more spare time hopefully with the family," he said. "That's about it. It's going to be a lot of good fun. Obviously I'm very excited. "It's a life?changing thing." |
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