LIV Golf's Henrik Stenson, Once the European Ryder Cup Captain, Now Can Only Watch and Wonder
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SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — The sly smile suggests Henrik Stenson knows what is coming. Given what is to occur this week in Rome, how he was once slated to be there—and the fact that he will be watching from home in Florida—leads to such a logical conclusion.
The 2016 British Open champion who has played in five Ryder Cups and was to become the first Swede to captain the European team when he was named to the position in March 2022 won’t be at Marco Simone Golf Club for reasons that should be quite clear by now.
When he signed with the LIV Golf League in July 2022, his captaincy was revoked.
Stenson projects no animosity, no anger, no disappointment. Very calmly, he talks about looking forward to the matches, dissecting the pairings, wondering about the captains picks and hoping to see Europe prevail.
Henrik Stenson was a five-time Ryder Cupper for Europe with a 10-7-2 record.
Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports
Only once does he slightly regress.
"There’s nothing that would have technically prevented me from carrying on in that position," he said at Rich Harvest Farms, site of the LIV Golf Chicago event he competed in over the weekend.
Stenson quickly catches himself. Those words were preceded and followed by comments that suggested he is at peace and wants nothing but success for the Ryder Cup in general and the European team in particular.
"We’re all golf fans," Stenson said. "We’ve grown up with that. The Ryder Cup has been a big part of our careers. Of course we’ll follow. As a fan of the side, there’s a lot of interesting storylines and things to look into. If you leave all the stuff that is going on … just looking at the competition and the two teams and the picks, it’ll be interesting. We’re still Europeans. There’s still a lot of history in our careers that are part of that. And of course we’re always going to support Europe."
Stenson, 47, has a 10-7-2 record as a Ryder Cup player and was on winning teams in 2006, 2014 and 2018. He was an assistant captain for Padraig Harrington at Whistling Straits two years ago.
Long rumored to be part of LIV Golf, he was named captain at a time when it was unclear if the controversial league would get started in the spring of 2022. Both sides differ on how it played out.
The DP World Tour and Ryder Cup Europe have said it was made clear to Stenson that signing with LIV Golf would preclude him from being captain. Stenson, in the aftermath of signing with LIV and losing the captaincy, said he had sought to keep the captaincy.
"After much consideration I have decided to join several of my fellow professionals and play in the LIV Invitational series," he said in a statement at the time. "Unfortunately my decision to play in LIV events (means) it is not possible for me to continue in my role as Ryder Cup captain. This is despite me making specific arrangements with LIV golf, to ensure I could fulfil the obligations of the captaincy. While I disagree with this decision, for now it is a decision that I accept."
Luke Donald was named to replace Stenson as captain and continues to carry out those duties this week when the Ryder Cup begins on Friday.
Asked now how he felt then, Stenson said:
"Don’t get me wrong, I knew there were a lot of things going on at the time. I’ve decided not to dig too deep into this especially now right before the Ryder Cup. If the are some things to be said and spoken about, I feel like there will be a better time and place out of respect for the team and the Ryder Cup itself. We will let that play out."
After the whirlwind events that saw Stenson join LIV Golf and lose the Ryder Cup captaincy, there was the matter of trying to play golf. He had missed the cut at the British Open and wasn’t playing particularly well.
Then he went out and won his first event, LIV Golf Bedminster.
"There was some fueled energy and focus," he said. "Mentally it’s hard to compare to winning at Troon or winning the Players Championship or the FedEx Cup. But I have to say that singling out that mental performance that week, it is probably one of my top three or top four mental performances.
"I hadn’t been playing very good before. It’s quite amusing when you start reading the odd comment. It’s a conspiracy that everyone lets you win your first week out. And you get to double digits on a a tough setup. When Bedminster is set up like that it’s a good test of golf. It’s a course that suited me very well. I managed to channel my focus with that drive and in a fairly short space got my game together that week and it’s almost like you go out there and lot of people want you to fail. Do you love to win or hate to lose? There was channeled energy that certainly pulled me in that direction."
For now, Stenson is content to watch the Ryder Cup and see how it plays out—although he does wonder about a few things.
Would Sergio Garcia—the all-time Ryder Cup points leader who went 3-1 two years ago at Whistling Straits—have warranted a captain’s pick had he been eligible? Would some of the experienced minds of past Ryder Cups such as himself, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell been beneficial to have in the team room?
Perhaps the "framework agreement" between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (which backs LIV Golf) will lead to peace that can bring them all back together.
"It's certainly going to be different going forward if all of us guys are not part of it," Stenson said. "But that’s not my decision to make. I don’t want to spend too much time speculating on decisions I have no influence on. You can only be hopeful in that. You hope things come together a little bit better than it has been over the last couple of years."