The Loop

Apparently Henrik Stenson worked on a different kind of driving this off-season

January 23, 2020

After winning the Hero World Challenge for his first victory in more than two years, Henrik Stenson wanted to carry that momentum forward the rest of the year. There was just one problem. He was done playing for the year.

The first-place finish at Tiger Woods' star-studded Bahamas event also finished off Stenson's playing schedule for 2019. And as he told reporters ahead of this week's Dubai Desert Classic, the 43-year-old Swede put his clubs away for the next month and instead worked on a different kind of driving.

"Yeah, not much golf during those four weeks. I was driving a 40-foot RV in the California countryside," Stenson said. "That normally doesn't improve -- it can improve your driving, which I think it did, but not much else in terms of golfing."

Stenson is known for his sense of humor, but he really wasn't kidding about the RV. Check out this Instagram post from Christmas Eve:

We're guessing the gas mileage isn't great, but she's a beaut, Henrik.

Maybe Stenson should have worked on his other driving a bit more, though, during his time off. In his return to competition on Thursday, Stenson hit just four of 14 fairways on his way to an even-par 72 in the European Tour event. On the bright side, handling whatever courtesy car he was given for the week must seem like a breeze.