This week’s WGC-HSBC Champions is the first event of the 2017-’18 US PGA Tour season for many of the world’s top golfers, so you might expect some of them to be a little rusty. Emphasis on “little”, because it wasn’t exactly a long off-season. But regardless of the situation, it’s still an odd sight to see Henrik Stenson, one of the game’s best ball-strikers, hit a shank. Ever.
And yet the 2016 British Open champ did on the fifth hole at Sheshan International Golf Club (his 14th hole of the day) during his opening round. (Tour pros are just like us sometimes!) He also still managed to make par on the hole. (Never mind.) Check it out:
Be like Henrik.
Don't let the shanks keep you down. pic.twitter.com/6htQRPI8Hc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 26, 2017
The recovery was almost as impressive as the Swede’s animated performance during the wild pre-tournament photo shoot:
Stenson stayed at four-under and wound up shooting 68 to trail leader Brooks Koepka by four after day 1.
