Eight years later, Stenson’s silver shows wear and tear but still a career high point

Henrik Stenson’s silver medal from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is not in pristine condition. 

It’s well-traveled, especially those early months and years after Rio when Stenson was asked to bring the medal to tournaments he played, with golf fans curious to get a close-up view. All those travel miles took a toll, especially since the medal could never successfully go through a metal detector.

Plus, it’s been to numerous functions, including show-and-tell at his children’s school. His son dropped it one time, putting a decent dent at the bottom of the medal.

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Stenson also heard that the Rio medals were not of the sturdiest variety, and thus are easy to scrape. Indeed, his own piece of silver shows several scratches.

“It’s pretty banged up,” concludes the Majesticks GC co-captain. “I think my silver medal is probably the worst-looking silver medal in the history of the Olympics.”

Nevertheless, the 48-year-old Swede is grateful to be in select company, one of six male golfers on the planet to have won an Olympic medal since golf was reinstated into the program after a 112-year absence.

Stenson competed in the 60-man field at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio, finishing two strokes behind the United Kingdom’s Justin Rose.

Olympic Photo Credit: AP Images

Stenson was in a tight battle with Rose for most of the final round but suffered a pulled neck on his tee shot at the 13th hole, and the injury impacted him on his next few tee shots. But he hung tough and was tied for the lead going into the 72nd hole. Rose hit his approach shot within 3 feet and Stenson ended up three-putting for the difference. He held off hard-charging bronze medalist Matt Kuchar of the USA by a stroke to become, in Stenson’s wry humor, “first loser.”

“I think it was Justin's day and I was a bit unfortunate with that slight injury,” Stenson recalled. “He had a great shot into the last and he got the gold, I got the silver. And I think when you go there, the 60 players, if you can podium, it's always going to be a nice week. I do recall almost feeling like Matt Kuchar was the happiest one on the podium. He came from 10th or 11th into third with a very good final round.”

Just a month earlier, Stenson won The Open Championship at Royal Troon in an epic battle against Phil Mickelson. It was a magical summer for the Swede, who also enjoyed spending time with the athletes from other sports during a brief stay at the Olympic Village – even if it was a little intimidating.

“It was a cool experience to be part of that,” he said. “I stayed a couple of nights in the Olympic Village. Going to the gym was very impressive. I remember Rafa Cabrera-Bello from Spain and myself, we quickly found a quiet little corner to do our bits. I think there was this tiny little girl that threw out about 130 kilos on a bar and was throwing that around like it was nothing. And we were like, maybe we should go over here in the corner not to embarrass ourselves too much!”

Asked if fans are more interested in his silver medal or the Claret Jug he won at The Open, Stenson replied: “I think if you are talking the whole world, people probably know more about Olympic medals. Of course, golfers clearly want to see the Claret Jug. 

“But all in all, the Olympics is something that reaches every corner of the world and people would know what an Olympic medal or gold or silver or bronze is. But not everyone would know what a Claret Jug is. So that just shows that it's kind of bigger than our sport and has a greater reach.”