Opinion & Analysis

Henrik Stenson’s return to top form

Published

13 years ago

Sep 6, 2013

Henrik Stenson will be teeing it up next week at the BMW Championship in the No. 1 spot on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup rankings. This is no surprise if you weren’t paying attention to golf for the past four years. However, it’s an incredible feat if you have followed the European and PGA tours during that time.

After watching Stenson win The Players Championship in 2009, golf fans began to wonder if he had the skills to become the next great European player, one who would follow in the footsteps of perhaps a Nick Faldo, who shared the same caddy, Fanny Sunesson.

The “Terminator,” as Stenson is often called, had an impressive resume up to that point. He had six European Tour wins, including the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. The victory at The Players Championship was his most impressive, and he ended the year ranked No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2009.

Once again, if someone hadn’t turned on the television until last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, he or she would think that not much had changed in the golf world. Stenson’s latest victory moved him to No. 6 in the world (he climbed up as far as No. 4 in 2009), which indicated business as usual, right? However, between Stenson’s last two wins on American soil, he endured a substantial slump.

As recently as January 2012, Stenson was ranked No. 230 in the world. In 2010 and 2011, he had good weeks from time to time: he finished tied for third in the 2010 British Open and T12 at the 2011 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. But in between he missed several cuts and signed for multiple rounds in the 80s.

It is well documented that Stenson was involved in the Stanford Group Ponzi scheme in 2011, and lost millions of dollars in the debacle. He also lost Sunesson, his faithful caddy, to to a back injury.

But Stenson is back to being one of the best players in golf once again. He has two runners up finishes in 2012: The Shell Houston Open (T2) and the Open Championship (T2). He also finished tied for fifth in The Players Championship, tied for eighth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has made cuts in 14 out of the 16 tournaments he has played in this year.

Stenson is ranked first on the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation, fourth in Total Driving, fifth in Scoring Average and has earned just shy of $5 million this year. He is once again looking and swinging like the player many golf fans thought would find his way to the top of leaderboards for years to come.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

7 days ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

Follow Club Junkie:
Instagram: @clubjunkiepod
TikTok: @clubjunkiepod
Threads: @clubjunkiepod
X: @ClubJunkiePod

Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.