In the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Stenson is doing his first competition in just over a month and he seems to be a little rusty after the game break. The 43-year-old made his only birdie on the third hole of the day, before he started to hit. After two water visits, among other things, Henrik Stenson was forced to count 77 strokes - five over pairs - on the scorecard. After the first round, Stenson is not even among the top 100 and has only six players behind him in the results list. One of them is Henrik Norlander, who is behind Stenson.
Alex Norén is the best of the three Swedes, but he mixed high and low. Four birdies was a little comfort when he also made a triple bogey and a couple of bogeys. 73 strokes also means that the Stockholmer, who shares 60th place, has a difficult position for the continuation of the competition at Bay Hill outside Orlando.
One who, on the other hand, showed class was world set Rory McIlroy. After a sluggish start - one over par after six holes - the Northern Irishman picked up the pace properly. An eagle contributed to McIlroy's 66th round, which reached second place - a battle behind leading American Matt Every.