THE 153RD OPEN

July 19, 2025

Henrik Stenson

Mixed Zone

HENRIK STENSON: Henrik Stenson.

Q. After you finished 12, did you think, you know, maybe a couple more, who knows what might happen tomorrow?

HENRIK STENSON: No, not so much on that end. I said yesterday I played a really good round of golf yesterday to make the weekend, and I was trying to build on that kind of momentum and keep on doing the same things. We did that to a pretty good degree today.

Warmup wasn't as good. I didn't feel like I had quite the same strike pattern and shots that I had yesterday, but I still got off to a great start despite missing a 6-footer for birdie on 3. So I birdied 2, hit it to a couple of inches on 6, and then got a nice 2-iron to release up to about 12 feet on 7 and made that for eagle. Pretty spotless in the end on the front nine, 4-under.

Then got a really good up-and-down on 12, and then you're kind of hitting into some of the tougher holes, 14, 16, 17, 18. They're not impossible holes, but green complex on 14 is really, really tough if you miss it. Unfortunately, I winged it a bit left with an 8-iron and ended up in a really tough spot. It was more to get it back in play and hopefully give yourself a par putt. It came out really slow out of the rough and left myself too much work to do there.

Then on 16 again, hit a poor 3-iron again and up in the left hand rough. Still gave myself probably about a 20-footer for par, just missed that one.

Then really the one that annoys me the most was on the last here, kind of wind was -- it started on the back nine, started to go a little bit. Certain holes you think, oh, we've got a little bit of help, and kind of kinks on the angles a little bit back and forth. I just hooked an 8-iron. I wasn't trying to go at the pin, but I was still trying to challenge a little bit. I hit it left, and I think the wind also kind of went from being -- instead of being straight down, it came a little bit out of right. It ended up being low and left.

Played some good bump shots, but it was really slow coming up there. In the end I salvaged a bogey, so it could have been even worse. That one stinks in particular a little bit from being in a decent position.

Q. What's your takeaway after these three rounds?

HENRIK STENSON: Especially the last two rounds, I've been trying to be super committed to my shots and my lines and what I'm trying to do. Then also a couple of things that I've been working on with the swing and so on to try to get that better.

Like I said, yesterday striking was better. Today wasn't as good. Still good enough, obviously, with a couple of good breaks early on to get the round going. Fortunately, you always kind of feel there's a bit of a wet blanket on top of you when you finish with three dropped shots in the last five holes.

Q. Henrik, you took more time at the recording than Shane Lowry yesterday after a two-shot penalty. Anything there?

HENRIK STENSON: It was just I spoke to Mark, who was one of the head rules officials. We got a warning on the 10th green that we were three minutes out, so five minutes over the allotted time frame. I joked with the other guys for after the first two days, first round took about an hour over the allotted time. Second round was four to five minutes over. I said, we just have to wait until halfway through Saturday or Sunday and someone is going to come up to you and say that you're two minutes over and they're going to start pushing you on. That's exactly what happened.

We tried to make up some time --

Q. Was that after the joke that that happened?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, that was yesterday. I made the joke yesterday. Then on 10 today, sure enough, the first rules official came up and said that we were a couple minutes over and we had to try to close that gap. We tried really hard in the group, but then 14 took a bit of extra time. We both made bogey there. Then they started putting us on the clock on 15. When you're almost done, it's not really going to make a huge difference. So it was more I wanted to vent that with him.

I think if you can play an hour over time scheduled in one day, then and all of a sudden two minutes is of huge importance the next day, it feels a bit inconsistent to me.

Q. Did that put you off a bit?

HENRIK STENSON: It always puts -- I don't get affected too much, but it certainly -- we were already trying to play quick to make up whatever we had lost earlier in the round. Sebastian had a bad hole on No. 8. Yeah, we were a couple of minutes behind there, but you just don't want to play on the clock. Even though you don't feel like -- I certainly don't feel like I'm a slow player these days, and you just don't feel like you can -- it's like you can take 30 seconds on one shot, 40 on another one, and you might take 52 on another one and you're still kind of averaging it out, but if you're on the clock, you're going to get noted if you take 52 on one.

I don't think it matters how quick you are as a player, you don't want to be on the clock because, especially out here, if you miss one in the wrong place, you want to go up and check and this and that, and that clocks starts ticking. I'd prefer not to play on the clock. Yeah, we're having some discussions on that.

Q. The Majesticks, you and Lee over here, have had very solid first two rounds. Just tell us what have you been eating? Have you been staying together?

HENRIK STENSON: No, we've been staying -- I think Lee is in a hotel. I'm in a house. I've got my dad and a friend of my dad's here and Fanny, so we're in a house. I've been eating some lamb, shrimps, lobster, Thai food, a bit of everything. So I guess that might --

Q. Indian?

HENRIK STENSON: I haven't had Indian yet. Maybe that's tonight. I don't know.

Q. You and Sebastian, do you talk Swedish?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah.

Q. You've been together all three rounds?

HENRIK STENSON: Yes.

Q. Not a lot of English in that group?

HENRIK STENSON: We had Stephan for the first two days. A little bit of overload on Swedish maybe.

Q. Do you remember that Dubai Desert Classic where Soderberg ran and played the whole round in 1 hour and 42 minutes, which is like a world record?

HENRIK STENSON: Oh, he did?

Q. 2019, I think.

HENRIK STENSON: I don't recall that one. So we shouldn't be on the clock then, should we?