Henrik Stenson keeps rolling halfway through PGA Championship

ByJASON SOBEL
July 29, 2016, 11:10 PM

— --

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- We collectively say this anytime a player wins a major championship, especially if he wins by playing dominant golf down the stretch: If he keeps playing like that, he's going to win a lot more of these things!

I mean, technically, that's not wrong. But it is a pretty big if. A huge if.

Golf doesn't work that way. Success happens in cycles. It comes and goes; it ebbs and flows.

That's not to say winning back-to-back majors can't happen. Jordan Spieth did it last year. Rory McIlroy did it the year before that. Padraig Harrington, in 2008, was the last one before that.  Tiger Woods has done it multiple times.

All of which leads us to the current case of Henrik Stenson.

Stenson, of course, won The Open two weeks ago, producing one of the most impressive final rounds by a winner that we've ever witnessed in a major.

Now, he's in fifth place following two rounds of 3-under 67 at the PGA Championship and trails co-leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb by 3 shots.

It took him 18 years of professional golf to claim his first major title. It might take him 14 days to claim the second.

"I'm very happy to be able to follow up the success at Troon with a couple of strong rounds here and be in good position," the 40-year-old Swede said after a second round at Baltusrol that included an eagle and three birdies. "We know it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's all about being there for Sunday afternoon, and so far, so good. You're not winning anything on a Thursday and a Friday, but you can put yourself in the wrong direction early days."

Stenson has certainly pointed himself in the right direction, even if he doesn't exactly have the best explanation for it.

When asked whether he's playing so well this week because the weight of winning a first major has been lifted from his shoulders or simply because he's in a groove, Stenson struggles to come to a conclusion.

"It's hard to give you a good percentage of that," he admitted. "I didn't feel like I had anything to lose there, and I certainly don't have anything to lose here. So I think it's just carrying on the same mindset as much as I can. Yeah, I'm a little bit unfocused at times, I think, which would be natural. But all in all, I think I've done a good job mentally, and I'm just going to try and carry on the same way, because it's obviously the right way."

Well, obviously.

If you're scoring at home, Stenson's last six major scores have been 68-65-68-63-67-67, which sounds more like something out of a two-man scramble team competition than the year's final two major championships.

At such stress-inducing events, perhaps the key to thriving is keeping a level head and perspective. It also doesn't hurt to have a little sense of humor, which is one of Stenson's more noteworthy character traits.

He displayed it once again Friday when speaking with the media after his second round.

  • On whether he'll change his approach from the one he used at The Open: "No, I think a 63 on Sunday would work pretty well here, too."
  • On how the New Jersey crowds stack up against others around the world: "They might be a bit louder." (And yes, he flashed a knowing smile when he said this.)
  • On whether he's walking taller after his first major win: "I'm 6-2 normally, but I feel 6-3 walking around here, right now."

For all of the levity, Stenson knows he could be on the verge of some serious history this weekend. This is a guy who played the best round of his life to win his first major. Now that he's got the confidence from knowing he can do that, there's no reason he can't follow it up with another triumph.

He's making it look easy right now, even if he promises it's not.

"It might not feel as easy as it sometimes looks," he explained.

We said it two weeks ago when he won the Claret Jug with that 63 on Sunday afternoon: If he keeps playing like that, he's going to win a lot more of these things!

That's a big if. But Stenson is making it look more possible with each round he plays.