Top Golf Newsmakers of 2022: No. 20 Henrik Stenson
Every day for the rest of 2022, SI Golf will reveal one of its top newsmakers of the year, from No. 20 to No. 1. The list begins with Henrik Stenson.
Who He Is: LIV Golf member
SI Golf Rank: 20 (Bob Harig), 10 (John Schwarb)
Why He's Here: Every player leaving for LIV Golf in 2022 went on a rollercoaster ride, but few were as wild as Henrik Stenson’s.
On March 15, he became the first Swede named as European Ryder Cup captain, the latest in a long line of respected European captains. Stenson played on three winning teams and was charged with keeping alive the three-decade streak of European dominance on home soil in 2023 in Rome.
Henrik Stenson was a winner in his first LIV Golf start.
Jamie Sabau/USA TODAY Sports
Four months later, the gig was gone. When the writing was on the wall for Stenson’s move to LIV, Ryder Cup Europe stripped the captaincy–a first in the 95-year history of the event that was embarrassing for all involved.
But for Stenson, who has had his own financial setbacks over the years, the lure of LIV’s guaranteed money was too much to pass up–and at age 46 he was in a similar spot in his career as former Ryder Cup mates that also joined LIV, such as Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey and Lee Westwood. Stenson’s last official win was the 2017 Wyndham Championship.
The rollercoaster ride ended on a high note when Stenson won in July at the LIV Golf Bedminster event just two weeks after the Ryder Cup saga. In his first round he hit 17 of 18 greens and shot 64, and never relinquished the lead. “I think there might have been a little extra motivation in there this week,” he said after a career payday of $4,375,000 that included a team runner-up finish.
2023 Outlook: Stenson will turn 47 in April, and he was ranked 190th in the world at press time. He’s exempt for the British Open at Royal Liverpool but not for any other majors. He finished the 2022 LIV season as a member of the Majesticks team, alongside Poulter, Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
The Ryder Cup begins Sept. 29, and as it approaches Stenson will surely face questions again about his stripped captaincy. Luke Donald was named as his replacement.