Santiago, Chile, were the Swedish team finished 6th and Stenson was the best Swedish player, finishing 14th individually. Professional career 1999–2012 Stenson turned professional in late 1998 and the following year topped the money rankings on the second tier golf tour in Europe, the Challenge Tour. He joined the main European Tour in 2001, and that year, he won the Benson & Hedges International Open for his first European Tour victory. Each year from 2005 to 2008, he finished in the top 10 of the European Tour Order of Merit. Stenson reached the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2006 and the top 10 in 2007. In February 2007, Stenson became the first Swede to win one of the World Golf Championships when he beat Geoff Ogilvy 2&1 in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. This victory took Stenson to the top of the European Order of Merit and to fifth in the world rankings, which was also the highest a male Swedish player had ever been ranked, surpassing Jesper Parnevik's previous record of reaching seventh place in May 2000. In all, Stenson spent over 100 weeks in the top 10 of the rankings between 2007 and 2010. Stenson failed to add to his success over the rest of the season and finished in fourth place on the 2007 European Tour Order of Merit. Stenson made his Ryder Cup debut in 2006, and after getting a half-point in the foursomes against Stewart Cink and David Toms on the Friday, he holed the winning putt and ensured that Europe won the Ryder Cup for a third consecutive time when he beat Vaughn Taylor 4 & 3 in the Sunday singles. He played again in 2008 at Valhalla, tallying a win, a loss and a draw in the foursomes. However he was not as fortunate as two years before, losing the singles on Sunday 3 & 2 to Kenny Perry. In March 2009 Stenson created a storm in the media after stripping to his underwear and golf glove in order to play a recovery shot from a muddy water hazard at the first round of the WGC-CA Championship. On 10 May 2009, Stenson won The Players Championship with a dominating final round score of 66 to finish four ahead of Ian Poulter. The win was his first American stroke play victory. This win again brought him to