Henrik Stenson wins The Players Championship...fully clothed

May 10, 2009

Henrik Stenson, his daughter Lisa, his trophy and his caddie, Fanny Sunesson (PGA)

Congratulations to the Swedish duo Henrik Stenson and Fanny Sunesson for winning the THE PLAYERS Championship.

Instead of just being that dude in his skivvies hitting a golf ball and the lady caddie getting a free peek - folks now know that he can play and she can caddie. Though the post with him hitting the ball in his white, as yet un-mud-smudged boxer briefs, has been quite popular - especially in the last 4 days.

Stenson commented on his little bit of undie fame after his win.

PGA Transcript

Q. Are you surprised what a big deal the incident at Doral became, and will this push that into the background?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, I mean, yeah, I was surprised. I thought I was going to see the picture a few times and get a few nice comments and so on, but you guys turned it into a worldwide thing. It was just flying everywhere, 143 articles when I Googled it. It was just everywhere. A lot of publicity for the game obviously, a lot of publicity for me, and I managed to get a few new fans, which is nice. I guess I got as much attention off that thing as from my results the last ten years. That's the way it felt like.

Yeah, I mean, this is obviously going to be the latest thing on the resumé.

Q. Did you hear from the TOUR off the thing at Doral?

HENRIK STENSON: No, I did not.

Q. Any consideration to strip down and jump into the lake for old time's sake?

HENRIK STENSON: I'll save it for a day with a bit of drizzle (laughter).

About his veteran caddie, Fanny Sunesson, who had been Nick Faldo's long time caddie.

Q. Talk about walking in with your caddie and the impact that she's had on your game.

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I mean, I've been very lucky to have Fanny around for the last two and a half years now. As I said, we kind of pulled her out of retirement. It's just been a great journey. We've had some great wins together and she's a great support. We have good fun on the golf course. I think it helps that we can both speak Swedish and nobody else knows what we're talking about. We can just go there and speak, and we're all safe. No, we just have a great time, and obviously with her experience being out there for 20-odd years and winning some great championships with some great players, I know that she's spot-on with everything she does. I couldn't have a caddie that's more prepared than she is when we tee off.

Nice story in the UK Times (4-12) about Fanny Sunesson.

Pix of the day: Which do you prefer?

(ANDREW REDINGTON/Getty Images)

Henrik Stenson confers with caddie and fellow Swede, Fanny Sunesson on the first hole during the first round of the Masters.

(Daily Telegraph)

Stenson and Sunesson on the 3rd hole at the World Golf Championships at Doral. He hooked his drive and it landed on the bank of a creek. He had no rain gear so he stripped to his boxer briefs. His thought: I’d have mud all over my clothes for the rest of the round….it’s time for some full frontal nudity on the front nine.

Nice story in the UK Times (4-12) about Fanny Sunnesson and Steve Williams - Tiger Woods' caddy. They're close friends. Worth a read.

More Stenson brief photos

Janet Squire, the PGA's only other female caddie - well she's technically a European tour caddie, as she carries the bag of the number one player on the European tour bag, Jeev Singh. He is the first Indian golfer to qualify for the Masters. Although they didn't make the cut, she got some good exposure because they played with Tiger Woods the first two days. Though her exposure was not of the same sort as Stenson's...

Caddie Janet Squire carries bag for Singh at the Masters