It’s been quite a year for Henrik Stenson — the best of his career, in fact.
On Sunday, the Swede was crowned winner of the European Tour’s Order of Merit, topping off a season that has seen him claim his first major title at the British Open and win an Olympic silver medal in Rio.
A joint ninth-place finish at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, the culmination of the Race to Dubai, was enough to see the 40-year-old top the Tour’s money list, bagging just under $4.5 million (€4.1M) over the course of the season.
Add to that the $1.25 million bonus Stenson will pick up from the $5 million Bonus Pool distributed between the top ten golfers in Europe, and things start to look even more rosy for the world No. 4.
“It has been a great year, the best year of my career,” said Stenson, speaking to Sky Sports. “I always thought it was going to be difficult to top 2013 but I think I have done that this year.
“I’m very pleased because I’ve now got two DP World Tour Championship titles [from 2013 and 2014] and two Race to Dubai titles [after victory in 2013]: I have a set in my home in Sweden and a set in my home in America, so I can spread it out and make it look good in both places.
“I’m going to have a bit of a break, and will certainly look at that Claret Jug and the race to Dubai, and maybe tangle up the silver medal on top of them. Then sit back and enjoy the really nice year I’ve had on the course.”
Showdown in Dubai
Stenson finished with a score of 12-under par in Dubai, tying for ninth place with Rory McIlroy who realistically needed to win the tournament in order to claim his third successive Race to Dubai title.
Victory at the BMW International Open in Munich and three second place finishes helped Stenson to European golf’s top prize for the second time. But he admitting that the title was won in the weeks leading up to the season’s climax.
“Luckily for me I didn’t really win it this week here in Dubai or last week in South Africa; it was the second-place finish at the HSBC [in China] that put me top of the Race to Dubai, and I managed to hold the other guys off coming here to the end.”
Masters champion Danny Willett, who went into the tournament second overall to Stenson, needed to finish in the top four to stand any chance of catching the Swede. But a disappointing performance saw the Englishman finish tied for 50th place.
The Tour Championship was won by Matthew Fitzpatrick. One behind overnight, the 22-year-old birdied the final hole to finish 17 under and claim his third tournament title — one stroke ahead of fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton.