Henrik Stenson loses sense of humour on rough day at Volvo China Open
World number three, still suffering from a stomach bug, complains of slow greens and 'silly' rough on Genzon course
With his sense of humour strangled by sickness, Henrik Stenson threw a club and then a left hook at the course set-up at the Volvo China Open on Thursday.
The world number three complained of “silly rough” and “slow greens” after catching a bad lie on the last hole, then an unlucky approach shot that led to a bogey and a one-under-par 71.
Stenson responded by throwing his iron, slamming it into his bag and then ripping into the course at the Genzon Golf Club, which he had not played – or seen – after spending three days laid low by a stomach bug.
When the rough gets that silly in certain areas, it kind of takes away a lot of skill
“It’s not easy to play a golf course blind and it definitely costs a couple of shots when you haven’t seen it, or haven’t played it,” he said.
“And the rough … you get some horrific lies when you’re missing fairways or greens. I took a six on the 13th by just being off the green. You can’t even get the ball hardly on the green to save par.
“When the rough gets that silly in certain areas, it kind of takes away a lot of skill. You don’t have to hit it particularly well to hold the greens either – it’s pretty slow. So all in all it played pretty tricky – for myself at least.”
Despite his frustrations, Stenson finished the first round of the 20th China Open only four shots behind joint leaders Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Simon Dyson of England. They both finished with five-under 67s to lead six others, including defending champion Brett Rumford, at four under.