‘There wasn’t much stress out there,’ says sleepless Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship leader Henrik Stenson

ABU DHABI // When Henrik Stenson lobbed a 30-yard chip onto the 14th green, and watched it roll out into the middle of the hole, a two-man camera crew circled around him, ready to capture the reaction in full high-definition. With typical insouciance, Stenson passed his club to his caddie, and said: “Must have been all that short-game practice I didn’t do.” For the first 18 holes of the 2017 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the world No 4 made a mockery of Gary Player’s maxim that the more you practise, the luckier you get. Not that Stenson relied too much on fortune. Class, it appears, is permanent, even if the clubs themselves have cobwebs on them. In the six weeks since he last played, Stenson has skied the slopes of Utah, beaten Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a sports award in his native Sweden, and generally done his best to avoid the golf course. __________________________________ Read more ■ Round 1: Martin Kaymer already reaping the benefits of forgoing ski holiday ■ European Tour: Stephen Gallacher joins elite 500 club ■ Video: Tim Henman leads coaching clinic at Abu Dhabi Golf Club ■ Round 2: Groups and tee times for Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship __________________________________ Yet he immediately clicked straight back into a routine that suited him well enough to bring him the 2016 Race to Dubai and British Open titles, as well as a run of astounding consistency last season. “It must be the lack of practice that does it – a lack of sleep and a lack of practice,” Stenson said after signing for 64, the second best score he has made in 12 years of playing in the capital. “I’m delighted with that score. I think I scored better than what I played, but I kept it under control somewhat, hit a couple of close iron shots and made the putts. There wasn’t much stress out there.” This tournament usually marks the first serious start for the great and the good of the European Tour. Most permit themselves a little leeway after the off-season break. > Stenson’s celebrated playing partners, for instance, were rusty at best. More accurately, they struggled. Bearing in mind three of the four reigning major winners were playing in the 7.40am match at the National Course, it was really only Stenson who started like a champion. Dustin Johnson, the US Open holder who is arguably the headline attraction for this week, pottered his way to a level-par 72 on his Middle East debut. Danny Willett, the Masters champion, was two shots worse off still. The vaunted trio started at the 10th, and when Stenson chipped in from the front of the 14th, he was four-under after five holes. Willett, by contrast, had just hooked his tee-shot so far into the shrubs, he did not even bother to look for it. His caddie went over to have a cursory glance, but the foliage was so dense, he decided there was not much point in holding everyone up. By the end of the day, Stenson’s eight-under was two clear of the field. Martin Kaymer, a three-time winner of the Falcon Trophy, was part of a group at six-under that also included Oliver Fisher, Kiridech Aphibarnrat and Marc Warren. This is the only one of the four Middle East titles that Stenson, a former UAE resident, has still to win. The 40-year-old Swede is hoping success in Abu Dhabi can kick off a golden 2017 to match what went before last year. “I just want to keep on developing my game,” said Stenson, who only finished outside the top 10 four times in the 16 European Tour sanctioned events he played last season. “I want to come into the majors well prepared, rested, and try to put myself in contention. “I feel like I can get the Claret Jug some company if I do that. I’m going to try my hardest.” Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport

‘There wasn’t much stress out there,’ says sleepless Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship leader Henrik Stenson

Henrik Stenson picked up where he left off last season by racing straight to the top of the leaderboard in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.