Henrik Stenson, the world No 2, is aiming this week to clinch a second Omega Dubai Desert Classic title. The 2007 champion, a former Dubai resident, is a desert specialist having won in Qatar and twice at the DP World Tour Championship. Stenson, though, comes into his third event of 2015 on the back of a missed cut in Abu Dhabi and a tied-13th in Doha.
Q: On a confidence-building final round in Qatar, in which Stenson shot his best round of the year — a six-under 66:
A: “I feel like I’m taking some steps in the right direction. It’s always hard to know when you’re going to fire on all cylinders, but it’s definitely in the right direction. At least, I’m positive. Obviously I’ve played better than I am at the moment, but I certainly played a lot worse as well. So we’re somewhere in the middle, lurking in the background a little bit.”
On tackling a Majlis course that usually throws up plenty of opportunities:
“You have a rough idea about the winning score. I think we’ve normally been somewhere around 17 or 19-under. You know you’re not going to be far away if you get to those numbers, so that’s four or five-under a day if you want to be there. You want to be a little bit more aggressive. It’s a good track and it’s got a few holes that can bite you back, as well. So you’ve got to find that balance.”
On his affinity to the course this week:
“I played and practised an awful lot here at Emirates, so I feel like I know this course inside out, and had the success in 2007 and another couple of high finishes. It just comes down to having played here so much and really knowing the course. I guess I like sunshine, as well.”
On the likelihood that Sweden will see its first male major champion crowned this year:
“I know we’re going to win one sooner or later. Of course, I hope it will be me – I’d be more worried about me not winning one than being the first one. It’s really the last thing missing on my CV. So I’m just going to try hard to be well prepared when I get to the majors and give myself as many chances as I can. I look at it, roughly a five-year period, that’s 20 majors. If I can come in well prepared, hopefully play well in a number of them and be up there, I fancy my chances I can close the deal at some point.”
On Miguel Angel Jimenez’s chances of becoming European Ryder Cup captain next year:
“I think most likely we’re going to see a race between Darren [Clarke] and Miguel. That’s the beauty of being a part of the Tournament Committee that no longer votes for it; I don’t have to put any thought into it. I just have to wait like everybody else until the result comes out. I think we’ve got a lot of capable candidates for captaincy. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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