Make no mistake about it, Henrik Stenson is out to win the Race To Dubai.
Stenson, the points leader in the European Tour’s equivalent of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, was just a shot off the lead Thursday as play got underway at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.
Stenson’s opening 69 left him just a shot off the Thursday pace set by Ross Fisher, Felipe Aguilar and Jeunghun Wang at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City Center.
Stenson had plenty of company at three-under par including fellow Swede Alex Noren. Joining them were Chris Wood, George Coetzee, Jaco van Zyl, Victor Dubuisson and Richie Ramsay.
Stenson can wrap up the Race To Dubai title if he wins on Sunday and Danny Willett finishes outside the top 10. Willett is currently mired in a huge slump. Willett struggleagain on Thursday and opened with a 75.
“I just want to play as good as I can for these two weeks and see where it leads me,” Stenson said after his round.
This is the next-to-last event in the playoffs with the grand finale next week at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
