Henrik Stenson Pulls Out Of The Northern Trust

The Swede's elbow has been plaguing him all year

Henrik Stenson Pulls Out Of The Northern Trust

Henrik Stenson looked to be fit again and firing ahead of the Ryder Cup and FedEx Cup Playoffs but has been forced to withdraw from this week's Northern Trust due to an ongoing elbow injury.

Related: The Northern Trust Preview, TV Times

The Swede was having to rely on a wildcard pick from Thomas Bjorn but may miss out on playing in his fifth Ryder Cup due to the injury.

Stenson currently ranks 50th in the FedEx Cup so in theory doesn't actually need to play in the first two events because the top 70 qualify for the third week at the BMW Championship.

Still, it doesn't look good for the 2016 Open champion who will need to show Thomas Bjorn some form and fitness ahead of Le Golf National next month.

He has had the elbow injury for most of the season and missed the Scottish Open due to it. It also hampered his Open preparation.

He played in last week's Wyndham Championship where he finished T20th and seemed to give the impression that it wasn't affecting his golf but more so his gym work.

"It's fine, I can practice and I can play without any problems as of now, but I can't really go after it in the gym fully," Stenson said

"The main thing that we can play and practice without having any problems there, so it's getting better."

Is this his Ryder Cup over? Definitely not.

Remember that the Ryder Cup is five sessions and Stenson may well still get picked and just play in three - he and Rose make a great fourball team and he has also been touted to partner Alex Noren.

Le Golf National is a ball striker's course and that's exactly what Stenson is. Obviously he'll need to get back playing but if it is just this week that he misses, he is still in with a great shot.

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Other notables missing out this week include Rory McIlroy, who is taking a week off to work on his game, and Rickie Fowler who is out with an oblique injury.

It was initially a worry that Fowler was injured but his Instagram post implied that he will be fit and fighting for the FedEx Cup and Ryder Cup.

Like Stenson, Sergio Garcia is also hoping for a wildcard pick for the Ryder Cup team after an indifferent year.

However, Sergio is not playing this week after a T24th last time out at the Wyndham. He certainly needs to show some form before Thomas Bjorn announces his wildcards on Wednesday 5th September.

This week's action gets underway on Thursday with Dustin Johnson defending the title he won last year.

World number three Justin Thomas defends the FedEx Cup and Johnson currently leads the standings with Thomas, Koepka, Rose and Watson just behind.

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