US TOUR NEWSW:HEN HENRIK Stenson walked onto the first tee at the TPC Sawgrass yesterday for the final round, he was cast in the role of pursuer. He was one of those who trailed Alex Cejka, the 54-hole leader, by five strokes. Yet, on a day when temperatures touch 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the ice-cold Swede kept cool and calm as he took one giant step after another towards the title.

And, as Cejka, who shot a six-over 42 on the front nine, wilted, Stenson blossomed – going to four under for his round with a birdie on the 10th that moved him to 10-under for the tournament, and gave him a three-shot cushion over his closest challengers John Mallinger, Ian Poulter and Retief Goosen – heading down the stretch.

Cejka’s front nine total was the second worst of any player in the final round, surpassed only by out-of-sorts Ryan Moore who took 46 strokes for his first nine holes. Such golf was alien to Stenson, who didn’t miss a fairway on the front nine for the second successive day.

The Swede has proven before that he has a liking for the Stadium Course. In his three previous appearances in The Players Championship, Stenson finished tied-third (2006), tied-23rd (2007) and tied-10th (2008). Yesterday, with birdies on the seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th holes, Stenson was on course to claim golf’s unofficial fifth major.

Pádraig Harrington had finished and departed the TPC Sawgrass long before disaster after disaster struck Cejka. While the German’s woes featured every possible hazard – trees, sand and water – in throwing away the five-stroke lead he’d carried into the final day, Harrington was looking ahead rather than back.

A final round 72 left the Dubliner on 290, two over par, for the tournament and very much among the also-rans. “I’m disappointed with 16, 17 and 18,” admitted Harrington, referring to missed birdie putts on the 16th and 18th with a three-putt bogey on 17 sandwiched in between. “I had three chances there and that would have been a very nice finish in that sense, but they’ll go in another day when it’s more important.”

Certainly, Harrington – who had started his final round with birdies at the second and fourth before giving the shots back in an instant with a double-bogey six on the seventh where he pulled his drive into water – will be hoping for better consistency when he tees up in the 3 Irish Open at Baltray, starting on Thursday.

Conditions at the Co Louth links will be vastly different to those faced by players in yesterday’s final round at Sawgrass in northern Florida, where the challenge was increased by temperatures in the 80s and by firm, slick greens that made scoring difficult.

One man who didn’t have too many problems was Australian Aaron Baddeley, who finished with three successive birdies for a final round 66 that enabled him to leapfrog up the leader board. Baddeley, first out and playing on his own, started the day in tied-65th position but shot a 66 for 284, four under, that moved him up to within a top-10 finish.

“Conditions were beautiful. I had perfect greens as no-one had been on them and there was no breeze,” observed Baddeley, while Vijay Singh, finally showing signs he has recovered from injury, also shot a 67 – which included a miracle par save on the 18th, where he had driven into the water – joined him on that 284 mark.

Prior to going out for the final round, world number one Tiger Woods – paired in the last group with Cejka – had provided an insight into the task ahead. “This is basically our fifth major, and that’s how it’s playing. It’s playing just like a major championship. It’s fast, it’s hard, it’s dry. And you just have to keep plodding along.”

But Woods, like Cejka, struggled to find any momentum. Instead, Stenson looked to be the man destined to claim the $1.7 million top prize.