AUGUSTA, Ga. (PA) -- When Henrik Stenson visited Augusta National as a spectator for one of the Masters practice days in 1999, he had two main thoughts when he left.
The first was that he ought to get a bet on Jose Maria Olazabal after witnessing how well he was playing. The second, inevitably, was "I wonder when I'll be back."
Stenson, in his first year as a professional at the time and without a European Tour card, never did place that bet and was left to regret it five days later when the Spaniard won the title for a second time.
He couldn't be sure he would ever be back, of course, but this week he has returned -- not to watch again, but for his debut in the tournament every golfer dreams about.
It has taken a lot longer than many people expected. Stenson celebrates his 30th birthday on Wednesday. But even if he is a late bloomer, he is now blooming very nicely.
At the start of last season, he was down in 145th place in the world rankings. Now he is 12th. Not only that, he comes to Augusta as leader of the European Ryder Cup race, with a first appearance at the K Club in September a near certainty.
And even if it was not until last August's PGA Championship that he played his first event in America, he has already made his presence felt.
In his second start, he shared the first-round lead at the WGC-NEC Invitational with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. In his third, he finished third in the WGC-American Express Championship and in his fifth, The Players Championship two weeks ago, he was third again.
A missed cut in the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta last Friday was, he hopes, just a blip -- and a chance to get into Masters thinking even sooner.
As Europe's biggest hitter, Stenson knows the course will suit him far more than the vast majority of the field. But he also knows all of his game will need to be razor-sharp if he is to contend.
"I was not overly happy with how I played at Sawgrass, even though I was third," he said. "It just shows what you can do with a good attitude."
That was what helped him in a real crisis in his career four years ago. Having won the minor-league European Challenge Tour and then the Benson and Hedges International at The Belfry in his rookie season, he crashed to 176th on the Order of Merit.
He missed no fewer than 15 halfway cuts that season and 15 more in 2003. But slowly he rebuilt his confidence, and since winning again at The Heritage tournament in England the week after the last Ryder Cup, he has not looked back.
"Some stay and fight the battle and others give up. I fought the battle," Stenson said then. "After a while you get scared of hitting the wild one and it gets to you mentally.
"I lost it so bad I started all over again," he added. "It's good to be back -- I am over the moon."
Stenson works with England's Peter Cowen on his swing and with fellow Swede Torsten Hansson, a diving expert who spent time with the American Navy Seals, on the mental side of things.
Both will be tested this week, and one thing he cannot do is lose his cool like he did in Switzerland last September, spearing a wedge into a green in frustration.
Stenson was fined for that and has learnt a lesson. It is purely for his golf that he has been drawing attention to himself since and that is the way he wants it to continue.
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