GREENSBORO, N.C. – It may not be a Broadway Musical like The Iceman Cometh, but The Iceman, also known as Henrik Stenson, will return to the Wyndham Championship next month to defend his 2017 title, the tournament announced today. The 79th annual Wyndham Championship is set for Aug. 14-19, 2018 at Sedgefield Country Club.
Stenson joins 2018 PLAYERS Championship and 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson, 2007 winner and 2012 FedExCup Champion Brandt Snedeker, 2011 FedExCup champion Bill Haas, three-time champion Davis Love III, 2016 winner Si Woo Kim and East Carolina University alumnus Harold Varner III in the Wyndham Championship field.
Although Stenson hasn’t won since last year’s Wyndham Championship, he has been close. Earlier this season, he finished tied for second at the World Golf Championships - HSBC Champions, fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, tied for fifth at the Masters and tied for sixth at the Houston Open and the U.S. Open.
The six-time PGA TOUR winner also has 13 international wins to his credit. He is 43rd in the current FedExCup point standings and 17th in the Official World Golf Rankings. This year’s tournament will be his fifth Wyndham Championship appearance.
“We’re obviously ecstatic that Henrik is coming back to defend his title,” tournament director Mark Brazil said. “He continues to play world class golf at the highest level. I was shocked to see how many Swedish fans came out for Henrik last year, and I hope they’ll return to cheer on our defending champion. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know Henrik this year and can’t wait to have him back!”
Stenson entered last year’s tournament ranked ninth in the Official World Golf Rankings and moved to sixth with the win. He fired an eight-under 62 in the first round but trailed two-time TOUR winner Matt Every by a stroke with 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson among seven golfers two strokes off the lead. Stenson was a stroke back after a second-round 66, but he moved into the lead for good during Saturday’s third round with another four-under 66 and took a one-stroke lead over Ollie Schneiderjans and Kevin Na into the final round.
Sunday was a shootout with many golfers in contention throughout the day, but Stenson birdied four of the last six holes on the way to his sixth PGA TOUR victory. Schneiderjans nearly holed out for eagle from the fairway on the 72nd hole to force a playoff but settled for birdie and narrowly missed his maiden PGA TOUR victory. Stenson set the tournament scoring mark at 22-under par and moved from 75th to 23rd in the FedExCup point standings. He became the tournament’s 19th international winner.
