Henrik Stenson To Make First Start Since LIV Golf Relegation

Henrik Stenson at The Open — Henrik Stenson will play in the Senior PGA Championship

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Henrik Stenson will make his senior debut later this week at the Senior PGA Championship.

The first senior Major of the season takes place at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, and will mark Stenson’s first competitive appearance since being relegated from LIV Golf in August.

Stenson became eligible for the event on 5th April when he celebrated his 50th birthday.

He will be one of 21 Major winners in the Senior PGA Championship field, including several who played in The Masters.

One is defending champion Angel Cabrera, while the others who teed it up at Augusta National who will be at the Florida event are Zach Johnson, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal and Mike Weir.

Other notable names in the field include former champions Steven Alker, Alex Cejka, Steve Stricker, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.

Meanwhile, more appearances are in the pipeline for Stenson. The 2016 Open champion, who finished 49th in the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Championship to drop out of the league, rejoined the DP World Tour in November, having resigned in 2023.

Henrik Stenson at LIV Golf Korea — Stenson was relegated from LIV Golf in 2025

He also paid all his outstanding fines due to the DP World Tour for playing in LIV Golf tournaments without conflicting event releases.

The week after the Senior PGA Championship, he will make his debut on the Staysure Legends Tour, which, like the DP World Tour, is part of the European Tour Group.

On that occasion, Stenson will compete in the Barbados Legends, which will be held between April 24th and 26th.

Stenson remains eligible for The Open courtesy of his win in the tournament 10 years ago, while he confirmed to Svensk Golf in November that he intends to play in the Senior Open at Gleneagles in July.

He also revealed that he would play at least one DP World Tour this event season to meet the membership requirements as a player over 50.

The Senior PGA Championship takes place between April 16th and 19th.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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