Henrik Stenson keen for second major to come quickly after triumph at The Open
Tuesday 26 July 2016 21:43, UK
Open champion Henrik Stenson is in no mood to rest on his laurels ahead of this week's PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
The Swede claimed his first major title at Royal Troon earlier this month, getting the better of a spectacular head-to-head battle with Phil Mickelson in Sunday's final round.
Now, with this summer's packed schedule, Stenson has a quick chance to add to his Open title in New Jersey, where the world's best golfers are back in major action only two weeks later.
Although Stenson says he feels a little more relaxed with the Claret Jug in his possession, the Swede is determined to taste that kind of success again.
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He said: "I think golf is a game you're never going to be finished. You're never going to get to the point where you're maxed out in your ability and how you're playing, so there's always striving to become better.
"I got a little perfectionist in there that's always been pushing me forward and that can both make me and break me at times, when you're striving to be your best.
"But no, I don't think I'm going to sit back and just say, okay, that was it, I'm finished. It's definitely the icing on the cake. If I look at my career, to win a major championship; that was pretty much the only thing I had not managed to achieve and now I have that. But then at the same time, you can look ahead and then try and win another one.
"So I think I've still got a good few years in me and I'm going to try and keep on developing, and if you don't, these young guys are going to come up and take over. So I still think I've got a bit of fight in me."
Stenson is one of a handful of leading players who has decided to compete in the Olympic Games early next month, and he says and rest will have to be found elsewhere.
Rory McIlroy said on Tuesday he would be taking a break after Baltusrol, while Stenson might miss a FedEx Cup Playoff event because of his keenness to go to Rio.
"I know I'm going to be sleeping for at least a week after The Ryder Cup. That's kind of blocked out in the calendar. Just a couple of zzzzzs next to each other for a week." he added.
"I knew this was going to be the case. We were going to have four months of virtually nonstop golf. It's always the busy part of the schedule, but even more so in the 2016 schedule.
"So I tried to pace myself by playing a little bit less in the springtime. I got nowhere with no more than one week off in between all these tournaments all the way until The Ryder Cup.
"I'll just have to see after this week and the Olympics if there's anything in the FedEx series that I potentially need to miss out on, but at the moment, I'm sticking to my schedule. And you've just got to try and rest up on those weeks in between as much as you can, and then play as hard as you can when you have the chance."
