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BMW INTERNATIONAL OPEN


June 25, 2014


Henrik Stenson


COLOGNE, GERMANY

MICHAEL GIBBONS:  Give us your thoughts, another big week in a big summer.  You must be looking forward to it.
HENRIK STENSON:  Yeah, trying to work on the game as well as juggling everything else, and game‑wise I feel like I'm in decent shape, four top sevens I think I read somewhere in the last four starts on The European Tour.
It's been quite all right.  Maybe not at my best but it's been good enough to produce some results and keep working away.  It's a good time to start playing well.  I know that from last year, so if I can duplicate anything near that this summer and into the fall, would be very welcome.
But again, it's the long‑term stuff, trying to work on that.  That's what leads to the long‑term results, and that's what I did leading up to last year, so there's no point changing that, even though you've got challenges in day‑to‑day life that kind of intrudes a little bit on the whole game plan.
Normally don't have the wife with me at the press conferences but a nice addition, until she starts asking questions and then I'm going to ask for the door (laughter).
But the whole concept of being more trained when you get out to the event, you can go at a little bit less pace at the events and you have all the energy for Saturday and Sunday.  I haven't felt like I've quite been there this year.
So it's more you're tired when you're not playing tournaments and then you rest and then you still feel like you need to putt a lot of work in at the events and it becomes a little bit of a vicious cycle, but we're trying to break that and find the balance.

Q.  Last year you were 10th in Munich and you started your run at that time.  When you compare yourself with last year, how would you compare it?
HENRIK STENSON:  I would say last year, I had not too much going on the first couple of months in the year.  I had a good couple of weeks with Bay Hill and Houston where I finished 8th and second to get into the Masters and then I played well at Sawgrass, as well.
I would say I played probably more consistent this spring and I probably played better between January up until now than I did last year.
So I would say I'm in a better position than I was before last year; then surely I can't guarantee I'm going to have the same fall as I had last year, but I definitely felt I played as good or even better leading up until now than I did last year.
So I'm quite happy with that, and you know, it's a game where at the highest level, it's more margins, and you've got to get those extra 15, 20per cent, a little bit of luck here, and just have a clear mind when you're out there playing.  That has not always been the case.
But I'm pretty good and I'm pretty close.  Not too much worrying on the game front.

Q.  Martin Kaymer was saying when he was playing in the U.S. Open, he was able to relax and completely enjoy what he was doing.  Did you find last year when you went on that incredible hot streak of golf that it felt easy?
HENRIK STENSON:  Yeah, of course, I think for myself, I'm a bit of a hard worker and I need to work a bit hard on my game and play a fair bit, as well.  That's the other kind of balance issue that I have; that I think I need to play a lot of golf to be in good shape, but there's a balance, how much do you play, and I can't play not enough and playing too much is going to be tough on you, as well.
But I think I was in a place with my game and mentally that I just kept on going.  I just did my best every round, and I think when you kind of got to a certain degree, then you are more relaxed, because you know you're playing well and you're focusing on what you have at hand and not worrying about everything that's going on around you.
That's a good place to be, and whether that means you're walking around smelling the roses the whole way, or personally I'm still very focused I think when I'm playing, but I can relax in between the shots, and surely I was in a pretty relaxed state last year when I was playing well, also.
I think everyone is; you're kind of focused but you're still relaxed.
MICHAEL GIBBONS:  Henrik, many thanks for joining us.  Good luck this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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