Henrik Stenson stealing away the loot as FedEx field sleeps

The noted prankster Henrik Stenson pulled off one of his favorite escapades at a tour stop in Europe a few years ago when he found himself staying in the room next to two friends and fellow Swedes, Carl Pettersson and Olle Karlsson. Tightening the strings on his hoodie until much of his face was hidden, Stenson hopped from his balcony to theirs, opened the sliding glass door, barged inside and shouted, "Give me your money!"

Stenson's latest caper is even bolder. He is threatening to run away in broad daylight with more than $10 million at the Tour Championship. At the start of a soggy third round Saturday at East Lake Golf Club, Stenson's lead in the 30-man field was four strokes. After an opening nine of four-under-par 31, his advantage was nine as the other players in his group, a flu-weakened Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth, fell hopelessly, helplessly behind.

Playing the last hour in the worst of the day's rain, Stenson bogeyed three of his last five holes for a one under 69 and a 54-hole score of 11 under. He was four shots ahead of Dustin Johnson, the last player to qualify for the tournament, who carded a 67.

“I think I’ll choose to look at it from the bright side even though the weather is not that bright at the moment,” Stenson said as rain pelted the roof of the interview tent. “Started the day with a four-shot lead and I still got it. So that’s all that matters, really.”

After Johnson, Steve Stricker was five under after a 68. Stenson is second in the FedEx Cup rankings behind Tiger Woods, which means he is one of five players who would automatically earn a $10 million bonus with a victory here.

Woods, Scott, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar are the others. Woods was three over after a 69; Kuchar was two over after a 69; and Zach Johnson was tied for fourth at four under after a 69.

Scott, the reigning Masters champion, required intravenous fluids after a fever-filled night and struggled to a 74, which left him at two under.

“It was pretty rough this morning,” he said, adding, “The club feels like it weighs 60 pounds, and it was just hard work to get anything moving.”

Stricker said he was less surprised by Stenson’s stellar form than he was by the rest of the field’s sluggishness.

“It seems like a lot of lacklustre play,” Stricker said. “I think guys are flat. It seems like a lot of guys are tired.”

Fatigue is not a factor for Stricker, who sat out the first play-off event in Jersey City and is making only his 13th official tour start of the year.

With Woods, the fittest of the fit, complaining of weariness after an endless summer of big tournaments beginning with the British Open in July, Stricker imagines that more players will follow his example next year and play in fewer tournaments down the season’s stretch to conserve their energy.

“I think we’re going to see some of these guys taking some of these play-off events off,” Stricker said.

Stenson (37) hit the wall at the penultimate play-off, damaging his locker with a few mighty blows last Monday after his 33rd-place finish at the weather-delayed BMW Championship. That burst of temper seemed to help Stenson gain his second wind. He played the first 45 holes of this tournament in 14-under.

His last nine holes on Saturday included one birdie and four bogeys, a disparity he cannot blame solely on the deteriorating weather. Over the first three rounds, Stenson has played the first nine in 13 under and the second nine in two over.

“Over a 72-hole stretch, you’re always going to run into a couple of holes where you’re not playing your best,” he said. “It would be wishing too much to play the way I did that first 45 holes, the whole week. To carry on like that without running into some trouble is probably asking for too much.”

It probably is asking for too much for Stenson to play the last 18 holes without visions of gold bars dancing in his head. The $10 million bonus, awarded to the season-long FedEx Cup champion, can be a heavy weight to shoulder when trying to close out the Tour Championship.

Justin Rose, who held a share of the 54-hole lead last year and finished with his only round in the 70s to drop to second, said: "Henrik's controlling his own destiny, and he's done a great job of it. But I'm sure, as we get towards the finish line, I'm sure $10 million begins to loom pretty large."

That would seem especially true for Stenson, who lost a large sum in the $7 billion Ponzi scheme that led to the conviction last year of R. Allen Stanford, who ran the Stanford Financial Group, a Stenson sponsor.

“At the end of the day, it’s just money, isn’t it?” Stenson said, adding: “I’m not struggling by any means. So I’ll just say money is paper, right?”

On paper, Stenson’s lead looks golden.

“I know I can just focus on my 18 holes tomorrow, and that’s what I’m going to do, the best I can,” he said, “and then we’ll add it up when we’re finished.”

- New York Times Service