Ryder Cup: Henrik Stenson insists elbow injury will not affect his golf
By Keith Jackson at Le Golf National
Last Updated: 27/09/18 10:55am
Henrik Stenson admitted his elbow injury is "dragging on", but he is adamant the problem will not affect him on the course at the Ryder Cup.
Stenson has been struggling with pain in his elbow for the majority of the summer, and concerns over his fitness for this week were raised when he withdrew from The Northern Trust last month.
But the veteran Swede returned to action the following week and also competed in the BMW Championship before enjoying a week off after failing to qualify for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Stenson has played a reduced schedule in recent months and has not posted a top-10 finish since the US Open, but he insisted he will be ready to go on the first tee on Friday at Le Golf National.
On his ongoing elbow injury, he said: "It's been dragging on a bit, but for the most part I've been fit enough to play competitive golf. It's been probably more a hindrance in the gym and not being able to do certain things and having to watch that a bit.
"But we hope that it's going to be completely gone there in a while. We're just managing it, and it doesn't really affect my golfing capabilities at this point. So it's just something we hope we can leave behind us shortly."
Stenson played in all five sessions at Hazeltine two years ago, but he hinted that he would sit at least one out over the next two days with the strength in depth of his European team.
"How much we play and so forth, we've got a very strong and deep team, and I think there's a possibility of playing potentially a bit less than previous matches," he said. "But we'll see. It's still early doors, and we'll see what the pairings are going to be like."
Stenson also played down concerns in the Team USA camp with several players apparently being struck down with colds over the early parts of the week, and he added that fatigue at the end of a gruelling season was also a factor for both sides.
"I think at this part of the season, there's been a lot of golf being played, and we all know that a lot of the players coming straight here from playing in America and playing a long FedExCup stretch," he said.
"Some of them are going to be a bit fatigued and a bit battered. You know, there's a lot of players that had to make the journey across, myself included, and jet-lag is one thing that you have to fight against, as well.
"I would imagine everyone's got a little bit of something that they had to fight, but it's a draining week this week. You're running on adrenaline, but at the same time, you can hit the wall at some point. We'll see Sunday which team is the strongest and who has battled the least colds, I guess."
