Hothead Henrik Stenson returns from Ryder Cup hiatus for team Europe

Henrik Stenson returns to the Ryder Cup after a six-year hiatus. This time last year, it was Stenson, and not Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods, who was the hottest player on the planet. He played well all year but his charge really started at the the Open, where he finished a runner-up to Phil Mickelson. That was just the start of a ridiculous closing stretch, that included another top 5 at the PGA, two FedEx Cup event wins and the overall $10 million playoff title followed by a title in the Euro Tour’s postseason equivalent, the Race to Dubai. No player had ever swept the PGA and Euro Tour playoffs, but Stenson stacked money to the sky and put himself in position become No. 1 in the world this year if he played well enough.

That remarkable finish to 2013 took a bit out of him though, and he couldn’t maintain that form for the first half of this year. He wasn’t the dominant player contending at the top of the leaderboard on a week-to-week basis. He came close at the PGA Championship, but that T3 finish was largely overshadowed by Rory’s continued ascendance and Phil’s weekend charge. His 2014 season didn’t even land him enough FedEx Cup points to make it to Atlanta and defend his FEC title as one of the top 30 in the Tour Championship. So Stenson sort of enters the Ryder Cup under the radar, as much as one can be as the No. 5 player in the world and the second ranked qualifier in points (behind only Rory) on both Euro qualifying lists

Just for Stenson to have the finish he did in 2013 and be here on this team is an impressive comeback story. Stenson was once a top 5 player in the world, winning The Players and competing at the top of the majors. But then he completely lost his swing, tumbled out of the world rankings and out of golf, at one point even playing in some local club’s weekend invitational back in Sweden while his contemporaries played in the PGA. We didn’t know if we’d ever see him play world class golf again, but he slowly started to regain his form over the past 20 months and then exploded last summer. The search for his swing is why he’s missed out on the last two European Ryder Cup wins.

Because of that hiatus from Ryder Cup play, I wouldn’t say that Stenson is one of the top options for team Europe. He’s certainly in the top half, but I’d have more confidence in some of the more recent experienced guys like McIlroy, Rose, Poulter, Sergio, and McDowell. Stenson is certainly one of the more emotional players for the European side, and he’s a known hothead when things start to go south. He admits it and often talks about all the clubs he’s destroyed, several of them in high-profile tournaments the past couple years.

So, uh, look out for that if things get shaky in this head-to-head atmosphere that’s the most intense in golf. Despite that temper, he’s usually pretty jovial with the other golfers. He could be a wheel guy that has multiple partners through the first two days. Martin Kaymer is reportedly one guy he will likely be paired with at some point in the first couple days.

Age: 38
World ranking: 5
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 2-3-2
Past Ryder Cup appearance: 2006. 2008
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 2nd in World Points List, 2nd in European Points List