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LIV Golf: Henrik Stenson shines with wire-to-wire Bedminster victory, $4.375 million richer

Matt Smith — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 05:15:06 +0000

By Matt Smith
If Henrik Stenson was wanting to make a statement after a roller-coaster couple of weeks, he could not have asked for a better script as he surged to his first title in five years at LIV Golf Bedminster in New Jersey — only a matter of days after he was stripped of the Team Europe Ryder Cup captaincy.

With emotions riding high, the Swede, who last won at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, was beaming as he stood on top of the podium on Sunday in New Jersey, with his hands on some siverware once again.

WATCH: LIV Golf highlights

After the tumult of his Ryder Cup removal — just before he announced he would make his LIV Golf debut at Donald Trump’s course in Bedminster — the 46-year-old was all smiles on the last day of July in the New Jersey evening sunshine as he claimed his 22nd career victory.

At the third LIV Golf event of the season in a party atmosphere and music playing, Stenson shot a two-under 69 to take him to 11-under in the three-day competition, two shots clear of Matthew Wolff and Dustin Johnson. His reward was the trophy, the first-place cheque of $4 million, and a confirmation that he remains one of the world’s top players.

“I’m super-proud of the focus I managed to have this week,” said Stenson. “I’ve been working really hard to get my game back in shape, and it’s certainly going in the right direction as we know now.”

THE ICE MAN ?
OUR CHAMPION ?@henrikstenson #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/WtJJUyZUlM

— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) July 31, 2022

In the team competition, Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces are also going in the right direction. The foursome, captained by DJ and including Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez, won the team title for the second consecutive LIV event. In Portland, they won by seven strokes but rarely seemed threatened. In Bedminster, they won by eight strokes but the issue was in doubt midway in the round.

At one point, Stenson and his Majesticks team — captained by Lee Westwood — briefly held the team lead. At other times, the two teams were tied. But 4 Aces pulled away in the final few holes to take the $3 million first-place prize at 25-under. Majesticks GC finished at 17-under, earning Stenson an additional quarter share of $1.5 million, while the all-Spanish speaking Fireballs finished at 12-under and in third place for the second consecutive event.

“Through 10 or 11 holes, I think we were tied, so it was a lot different,” said Johnson, who was in the final group with Stenson and Reed. “Obviously, I was playing with Pat and we’re all watching the leaderboard and especially watching the team score.

“Today, we knew we needed to play some good golf to finish if we wanted to win this tournament as a team, and also we were both right in the mix trying to chase down Henrik.”

Chasing Stenson, however, proved to be too difficult. He started the day with a three-shot lead over Johnson, and by the first hole, the lead was five, thanks to a Stenson birdie and a Johnson bogey after an errant drive forced the 4 Aces captain to chip back onto the fairway.

Neither Johnson nor Reed could get the putter going, and Stenson never opened the door. His only bogey of the day came at the par-5 15th, and he still walked off with a two-stroke lead.

Credit his 3-wood, a club that he’s leaned on plenty of times during his career and certainly at Bedminster this week in order to avoid the rough and other trouble areas. After one particularly shot in round two, he even kissed the club in a show of appreciation.

“It’s been an important club most of my career I’d say, and yeah, I certainly hit some good ones this week,” Stenson said. “I think the golf course obviously set up nicely for me. It’s a lot of positional play off the tee, and we surely found a big number of fairways this week.

“First day in particular I played really, really solid. Yesterday was a little bit more of a grind, and then today we played pretty good for the most round. It was a little bit wobbly coming home, but we’ll take it in the end, and yeah, the 3-wood didn’t do me any harm.”

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LIV Golf: Henrik Stenson stretches lead at the top in Bedminster

Matt Smith — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 07:54:04 +0000

By Matt Smith
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson is certainly enjoying live at LIV Golf, following the furore that saw him stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy days before his LIV Golf debut at Bedminster.

Amid a sea of red shirts and ‘MAGA’ hats at the Donald Trump course in New Jersey, Stenson did his best to steal the limelight from the former US President and host for the week.

“That is the best I have played all year,” the 46-year-old said and he followed up his opening 64 with a Saturday 69 and take a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round, ahead of Dustin Johnson. The American is one ahead of 4 Aces teammates Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch, who are on five-under along with Fireballs Carlos Ortiz.

But it was the majestic Majesticks man who was the talk of the town.

“It’s certainly been a busy and emotional week, no question,” Stenson said. “I’m pleased with the way I’ve kept my head down and focused on business.”

On the team side of things, DJ and co lead the way on 20-under, with Stenson, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield six back on 14-under for the Majesticks.

The Spanish Fireballs, led by Sergio Garciam are a distant third on seven-under.

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Report: Dozens of lobbyists and corporate executives with government dealings belong to Trump golf courses

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 06:12:44 +0000

Drew Angerer

By Ryan Herrington
Members of private golf clubs that are part of the Trump Golf network pay initiation fees that can exceed $100,000 and annual dues in the thousands. It’s no surprise, then, that they are among the country’s elite.

But, according to a USA Today report, dozens of them work as lobbyists or for companies that hold federal contracts, raising potential ethical questions.

In an investigation by the newspaper, reporters identified at least 50 executives whose companies hold federal contracts and 21 lobbyists and trade group officials who are members at the Trump clubs that the president has visited most often during his first seven-plus months in office: Trump International G.C./Mar-A-Lago in Florida, Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey and Trump National Washington in Virginia.

There’s nothing illegal about these memberships, but they raise potential questions about the nature of their relationships with the president given that these individuals with interest before the government are making payments that benefit Trump’s personal business interests. These same members often have access to the president when he’s at the clubs and are free to talk to Trump about any and all subjects, according to the report.

While membership lists aren’t public at Trump courses, the newspaper used social-media websites and the GHIN website to identify 4,500 club members. The paper said it then contacted hundreds of these members to determine if their businesses had ties to the government and ask whether they have had contact with the president while they frequented the clubs.

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