So many things to do with the claret jug, so little time. That sounded like Henrik Stenson’s lament as he met with the media on Wednesday (AEST) at the British Open, having sadly handed back the trophy upon arrival the previous day at Royal Birkdale.
Yes, Stenson was famously able to take the jug for a ride on a jet ski, what he described as the goofiest adventure he took with the iconic prize. But there was something more he had hoped to do with it that never came to pass.
This might be a first…Champion Golfer of the Year @HenrikStenson takes the Claret Jug jet skiing!
(via @cnn) pic.twitter.com/22ETxyvwdg— The Open (@TheOpen) November 19, 2016
“I’ve made an official promise that if I ever win the claret jug again, I’m going skydiving with it,” Stenson said. “And I don’t know which is going to be harder, winning the claret jug again or going skydiving afterwards because that thought scares me a little bit. It won’t stop me from trying to win it, though.”
What might stop Stenson, however, is his present form. While carrying the label “Champion Golfer of the Year,” the 41-year-old Swede hasn’t been playing like much of one in 2017. In nine US PGA Tour starts this season, Stenson has missed five cuts (including at both the Masters and US Open) and has one WD. His record is slightly better on the European Tour, having posted a T-3 finish at the BMW PGA Championship in May.
As is usually the case for Stenson, when things are going bad it stems from his short game. “I don’t feel like I’ve had the consistency I want to have,” Stenson said.
That said, he also acknowledges that this was the same case a year ago when he arrived at Royal Troon. Stenson had missed the cut at Wells Fargo and the Players Championship, then withdrew in the second round of the US Open at Oakmont, before having the best tournament of his career, capped by his stunning Sunday 63.
