Watch out! Stenson has plenty more up his sleeve

The Swedish golfer’s formidable form could get even better according to his swing coach Pete Cowen.

Henrik Stenson’s reputation as a joker is well known.

However, he was deadly serious last June when he told me in the locker-room at Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial tournament: “I’m back. You heard it here first!”

As good as his word, Stenson racked up impressive numbers in the second half of the season.

And his return to golf’s elite continued last Sunday when he wiped out the field in winning the Race to Dubai to add to his FedEx Cup victory.

His combined earnings from the European Tour and its US counterpart amounted to £13 million.

When you dissect these figures, that works out around £447,000 per event, £187,750 per round or a whacking £6,787 per hole!

Considering that in 2009 Stenson won the Players’ Championship, yet early last year was ranked 230th in the world, this is a comeback of epic proportions.

But according to Henrik’s swing coach Pete Cowen: ‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!’

“Henrik deserved it, no question about that,” said Cowen, the 63-year-old Yorkshireman who is much in demand with many of the elite Europeans, including Graeme McDowell.

“There has been nobody better for six or seven months, and if he had putted better, he might have had a Major.

“Tee to green he was No 1, fairways hit he was No 1, and to win the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai is exceptional.

“You can’t do much better than that,” he added.

Yet last year Stenson didn’t even make the field at the US Open, The Open, or the USPGA.

Cowen filled in the blanks.

“A lot of people don’t realise, but he had a parasite in his blood that took around 18 months to detect,” he explained.

“So without his strength, it was difficult to get him to do what you wanted him to do. Once he got his physical strength back, it wasn’t that difficult really.

“He is actually still only 70% but I always say 70% is good enough to win most things. I like to think he has plenty left to go at.”

When asked to elaborate on why he thinks Stenson can take things to a higher level next year, Cowen didn’t flinch.

“Obviously he has to continue to work on everything, but temperament and putting, has to be foremost,” said the respected swing coach.

“To shoot 64 on Sunday with 30 putts in those conditions was testament to how good his ball-striking is and how talented a player he really is.

“It is nice to have someone who is able to do what I want him to do!

“He has become a role model for me, showing that if I get the right ingredients I can make a great player.”

Nobody could argue with that, considering last week Stenson hit 17 greens in regulation in every round, and 50 of 56 drives found the fairway.

“Exactly,” says Cowen, “You only usually see golf as good as that on PlayStation!

“That’s how good Henrik was in Dubai.”