EXCLUSIVE: Victory this week would rank 2016 Open champion Stenson with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bjorn Borg
22:30, 17 Jul 2019
Henrik Stenson aims to lift the Claret Jug again to cement his status alongside fellow sporting greats Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bjorn Borg back home in Sweden.
European Ryder Cup star Stenson won The Open in 2016 at Troon with a superb final round 63 to see off Phil Mickelson's challenge.
That victory made him the first male Scandinavian to win a Major and elevated him to the legendary status of footballing compatriot Ibrahimovic and five-time Wimbledon champ Borg.
But Stenson insists he is still determined for more Major glory at Portrush this week.
Now 43 and 37th in the world rankings, he told Mirror Sport: “For a small nation we have produced a lot of great sports men and women over the years. Just to be mentioned in the same sentences as Borg and Zlatan and those guys is something that is special.
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Football superstar Ibrahimovic has won 11 league titles and European silverware with his various clubs(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
“I think I have done my country proud on the golf course many times. And hopefully we can make that happen a few more times.
“I have great memories of winning The Open and I am going to fight hard to get it back.
“You can always build on positives and things that have happened in the past. It was a very special week for me and the crowds haven't forgotten and I haven't forgotten.
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Borg won Wimbledon five years running among 11 Grand Slam titles in the 1970s and 1980s(Image: PA)
“Even though I believed I could win a Major, until you do it you have never got it crystallised. It is a good one for the confidence but the golf ball doesn't know now what happened in the past so we have to tell it all over again.
“You are not going to win another Open Championship thinking about something in the past.”
Stenson arrived in Northern Ireland this week on the back of finishing joint-fourth at the Scottish Open, having taken three weeks off following his ninth spot at last month's US Open.
Sweden's Stenson was crowned Open champion at Troon three years ago(Image: Getty)
The Swede impressively went bogey-free, until the penultimate hole in Saturday's third round at the Renaissance Club.
Stenson added: “I double bogeyed the 17th on the Saturday, that was my first dropped shot of the week after 53 holes. I then went bogey free again on the Sunday.
“It was a good rehearsal for this week. I had played seven out of eight weeks up until the US Open so I had three weeks off and with that performance, hopefully we can step it up another notch here this week.”