Stenson to shift home base

DOHA // Dubai will be seeing a lot less of one of its favourite adopted sons from now on after a difficult decision by Sweden's Henrik Stenson to commit himself to US PGA Tour membership. Stenson maintained that not too much will change but his family home - his wife is expecting their second child in five weeks - will move to the equally appealing climate of Florida. "It will make it a little easier to be based in the States for a longer period of time," he said. "It will be better for travelling with a young family. "I've tried to cut down my schedule over these last couple of years and I have found the travelling back and forth across the Atlantic a little too much.

Stenson, who will aim to play in a minimum of 15 tournaments in the US, claimed his decision was not brought about the fact that he won the Tour's flagship event, the Players Championship at Sawgrass, near to his new base. "Obviously they would like to see the winner of the Players become a member but it was all up to me and to be honest I had already given the matter quite a strong thought before winning at Sawgrass." Stenson, speaking from the Doha course where he won one of his six European Tour titles four years ago, hopes that this "slight change of direction" will lead to the fulfillment of a long-standing ambition to add a major honour to his collection.

"I've had a lot of strong finishes in the majors and naturally I'm hoping to capture one in the next couple of years. "Augusta [venue for the US Masters] is the one where I felt comfortable last year. I have now played it four times and gained some good experience. It's a track that suits my game and I will be disappointed if I'm not challenging for glory there in the years to come." @Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae