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Though he missed the cut by three strokes, Stenson did not consider his first Masters a total bust. He went to school during the first two rounds, absorbing the course management of playing partner Vijay Singh, who won a green jacket in 2000. "I learned so much that I can apply this year," Stenson says. His education in the majors continued at the PGA Championship. With two rounds of 68, Stenson was tied for the lead through Friday, but on the weekend a cold putter and some overly aggressive play doomed him to a 14th-place finish.
During his third-round 73, Stenson was paired with pizzazz-free Billy Andrade a couple of groups behind Woods, the eventual champion. "Having a sniff of the lead at a big tournament, that's what it's all about," says Stenson. "I thrive on the atmosphere and the pressure. Saturday at the PGA, it was a weird feeling. Hardly anyone was watching Billy and me, and to be honest it was a bit of a letdown. That was a little inexperience there, letting it affect me."
Enter Fanny Sunesson. "She helps me focus," says Stenson, who sought out the veteran caddie late last year. She also helps him relax, as their shared Swedish sensibilities have led to plenty of inane chitchat on the course. "We had a good laugh at the Match Play," Stenson says. "The water bottles all said zero calories. I haven't had much high-calorie water, have you? Every time there would be a tense moment Fanny and I would be like, 'Hey, you want some zero-calorie water?'" It's not David Sedaris, but it worked.
That Sunesson caddied for Nick Faldo for two of his three Masters wins will give Stenson an important edge at Augusta National. Already she has been putting him through some of Faldo's old pre-Masters preparations, specifically practicing chipping to very precise distances. Faldo now represents a bygone era of European dominance at the majors. No Euro has won any major since Scotland's Paul Lawrie achieved his flukish victory at the '99 British Open. Stenson knows what it would mean to end the drought. He was asked a few weeks ago if, in light of his recent success, he will be besieged the next time he walks around Stockholm. "I don't think I'm going to have to walk," he said. "They will probably carry me around, a little crown on my head."
As momentous as it would be for Stenson to break through at the Masters, a victory there would also be personal. At one of their first sessions together, Hansson asked Stenson to identify his goals. At the top of the list was winning a Masters. Says Hansson, "In 2001, '02, when he was at his lowest, we would talk about his boyhood dreams. The idea of someday winning the Masters, he held on to that very tight. He had to. Where else could he get the energy to continue?"
Soldier on Stenson did. And if he does lay waste to his adversaries at Augusta, he promises he'll remove those foreboding sunglasses and finally show the world his smile.
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