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Stenson and his beloved 3-wood on the 2nd tee during the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last year.

By Kent Gray
Pre-tournament press conferences at golf tournaments are fairly predictable affairs. Yes, I’m here to win, yes, the game is in good shape, hopefully we can get to the back nine on Sunday, let’s see how it goes type of stuff.

Some play the preview game better than others and few as entertainingly as Henrik Stenson. The world No. 28 was at it again at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Monday when he faced a Facebook Live question from a fan.

“If you had to choose only one, what would you choose: Your wife Emma or your beloved 3-wood?

“That’s a very easy question,” the 42-year-old Swede said poker-faced. “It would be the 3-wood.

“The time is [looking down at his wrist watch], yeah, she’s sleeping. She’s in the U.S. She’s sleeping. I’m safe for now, at least.”

RELATED: Full first round tee times – Stenson grouped with Johnson, Oosthuizen

The ever cheeky Iceman might have some explaining to do when Emma finally awakes but she surely understands her husband’s unbridled love affair with the club he typically lashes off the tee. If she needs any further convincing, this compilation with attached superlatives from his European Tour peers will help:

Stenson has a new Callaway Epic Flash driver in the bag at Abu Dhabi Golf Club this week but it was his well-worn 3-wood that was centre of attention. He revealed at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta before Christmas (where he finished fourth) that he had a couple of replacements in the garage and while newer models had produced encouraging numbers on the range, admitted it as hard to let go of his trusty old model.

“Some of the newer stuff, actually, it goes further for sure. But it’s more whether you feel the same trust when you’re standing there on the 72nd hole and you need to hit a fairway, if you’ve got a club that you really, really like, sometimes it’s hard to change it.

“I’m not worried if and when these old 3-woods that I have been using, if they run out of — out of lifespan, it’s a chance that I might be retired at the same time. We’ll see.”

Stenson is a few years from the rocking chair just yet and would love to finally win in Abu Dhabi after a pair of runner-up finishes in the now $7 million Rolex Series event which he has played every year sinces its inception in 2006. He typically had fun when questioned about the elephant in his trophy room.

“You had to mention that, yeah,” Stenson said with a smile when asked about the elusive Falcon trophy, before turning slightly more serious.

“Well, it’s always tough winning golf tournaments and I think it’s equally as hard to try and guess or tell when that’s going to happen. But yeah, I was pretty pleased with the way I played on the back end of the year, and yeah, we got some time to prepare this week here, a couple of days to go.

“I’ve done some practice at home, as well, in Florida before I came out. I wouldn’t say, given how short my break was, that I’ve been spending the longest hours out there but at least to get going again and yeah, motivation is a big part, and feeling fresh and ready to go is always important ingredients in playing well, and a good track record is also something that can help.

“So we’ve got I think two seconds and a third, and nice little bunch of top 10s other than that. Yeah, we’ll try and make it happen this year.”