Stenson went the round on a total of 78 strokes and is in a split 135th place, eight over par, ahead of Friday's game.
He did pull himself up with two birdies on holes 17 and 18, but four bogeys and three double bogeys on the other holes means that Stenson has to fight hard to advance to the weekend's final rounds.
The 44-year-old, who was hit in the ribs in a ski accident earlier this year, has had a hard time and last week went the worst round of his career on the PGA Tour with 85 strokes.
Something that resulted in him no longer being the best Swede in the world rankings and that the Olympic venue is now in danger.
The other Swedes, Alex Norén and Henrik Norlander, were more stable during Thursday's competition, but did not offer a big game.
Both went the round on 71 strokes and are in a split 63rd place, one over par, before the second round.
Matt Jones from Australia, is in the lead.
He went around the 18 holes on 61 strokes, nine under par.
MORE GOLF: Sörenstam close to tears after competitors' tribute (March 1)
Javascript is disabled
Javascript must be turned on to play video
Read more about browser support
The browser is not supported
SVT does not support playback in your browser.
We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.
Read more about browser support
Sörenstam close tears after the competitors' tribute