Henrik Stenson: How to prepare for an away Ryder Cup

Henrik Stenson of Europe plays a shot during practice prior to the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National

A lot of airtime and column inches have been given over to the topic of home advantage in the build-up to this year’s Ryder Cup but does it really make a difference?

Measuring 7,628 yards, Hazeltine National is the second longest course to stage the Ryder Cup and with plenty of big hitters in the US ranks it certainly seems to suit Love’s team better on paper.

 However Open Championship winner and Olympic Silver Medallist Henrik Stenson doesn’t think this year’s Ryder Cup feels like an away tournament and he is looking forward to the off.  

 “Given the travel distance, this is home Ryder Cup,” he said.

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 “It’s a shorter trip to the away games than it is to the European one these days.

“No jet-lag to consider really from Florida, and the weather is pretty much the same at both. Feels very much like the weather and temperatures we had at Gleneagles.

“No, it’s kind of the same, same, I’d say.”

The world number five told reports spirits are high in the Team Europe camp and that he is confident Darren Clarke’s troops can handle the pressure despite the inclusion of six rookies.

He said: “We all kind of know each other pretty well, some more than others but we’ve played a lot of golf in Europe together and, yeah, it’s just a very nice environment in the team room and I think they feel very much welcome and part of the team very quickly.

“We’re out there playing practice rounds. I played with a few of the guys yesterday, and I don’t really feel like there’s much difference in who is new and who has been here before.

“It’s a lot of tension and something you look forward to, but you’re still not sure how you’re going to react every time, I think, and we’ve seen some bad tee balls being hit and surely pressure is why that could be that way.

“But at the same time, we are used to stepping out to the first tee in big tournaments, but it’s definitely a special one to tee it up at The Ryder Cup.”