Reigning Race to Dubai champion, Henrik Stenson, has been ruled out for the rest of the European Tour season with a freak “Superman” injury so will miss the season-ending DP World Tour Championship taking place at Jumeriah Golf Estates, Dubai.
Stenson suffered a bruised rib in a promotion on the eve of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last month before bravely fighting the pain and finishing joint runner-up behind England’s Justin Rose.
The Swede, however, enflamed the injury during the Turkish Airlines Open, which was again won by Rose, and this was reflected in shooting a disappointing four-under par tally on the Rolex Series event.
Last month in Shanghai, the 41 year old had joined World No 1 Dustin Johnson and China No 1 Li Haotung in a promotion event, ‘hovering’ above Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama who was guarding the trophy he won last season.
“I am not Superman given certain people thought I was Superman so if you saw the promotion in Shanghai you know what I mean,” Stenson said.
“I have been feeling it when I swing so it has been rough this week and while I was not 100% last week, I guess the travel and the way things progressed it started getting worse rather than better.”
This is sad news for the tour and the golf fans in the UAE as two-time champion Rory McIlroy is also absent as he recovers fully from injury.
