Henrik Stenson recently accepted a temporary membership on the PGA TOUR. Last month he sank the winning putt for Europe in the Ryder Cup against his fellow TOUR mates from the United States.

It's been quite a season for the big-hitting Swede, who has won two titles on the European Tour and continues to make strides towards being a major force in golf after fighting through a downturn in his game in 2003.

"There were some tough times, but I kept on going, and that's what got me back on track again," said Stenson, who has won three times since '04 and has risen to 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking. "There's always room for improvement, but I'm happy with the way I've been working and moving in the right direction. It feels pretty good."

Stenson, 31, won the Qatar Masters in February and captured the BMW Championship just before his first appearance in the Ryder Cup last week at the K Club, where he finished with a 1-1-1 record, including a singles victory over Vaughn Taylor. A resident of Dubai, Stenson heralded his arrival on the PGA TOUR by finishing tied for third at THE PLAYERS Championship. He was the second-round leader at the PGA Championship before finishing tied for 14th.

"Winning, obviously, has been very satisfying," said Stenson, who was introduced to golf by a family friend and got down to scratch by time he was 18. "Playing in America, and having a couple of good finishes, has given me a lot of confidence."

He didn't always have that confidence. Though he was a force on the European Challenge Tour and won his first European title in 2001, Stenson hit a rocky patch in 2003 when his scoring average soared to 73.64 and he made just seven of 22 cuts.

A win at The Heritage in 2004 got him untracked. Though he didn't win in 2005, his 69.97 stroke average and seven top-3 finishes in Europe got him into the PGA Championship, his first major in America (he tied for 47th), and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Championship.

Henrik Stenson finished T3 at the 2006 PLAYERS Championship. (WireImage)

He has not looked back since. He has earned $723,302 in his first nine starts in the United States, which allows him to join the TOUR, but helping the Europeans capture their fifth Ryder Cup in the last six tries was probably the biggest highlight in a reel starting to fill up with notable achievements.

"It's a great honor to be a part of this team, and it's a boyhood dream come true, playing the Ryder Cup, and playing my first one on European soil is obviously special," Stenson said last week. "I remember I started to watch the Ryder Cup back in '89. I started to play in '88, when Olazabal and Seve, they were driving the green on the 10th at The Belfry. That's one of the things, and really sort of affected me when I played, I won my first European Tour event at The Belfry and had a go at the green on the 10th in the last round and chipped in for eagle and (I was) definitely inspired by their play from earlier.

"They have inspired all of my golfing career and a lot of nice memories from it,' he added. "It feels good."

Well, for Stenson, it's been a feel-good kind of year.