Golf-Stenson scoops golfer of month award

LONDON, Mar 1 (Reuters) Henrik Stenson's two victories at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and Dubai Desert Classic have earned the Swede the European Tour golfer of the month award for February.

Stenson's superb performances won him the trophy ahead of compatriot Peter Hedblom, winner of the Malaysian Open, and Finn Mikko Ilonen, who was victorious at the Indonesian Open, the tour said in a news release today.

The 30-year-old Stenson recorded his fifth tour victory at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai at the start of the month, edging out South Africa's Ernie Els by a stroke.

He then became only the second European behind Darren Clarke to capture a WGC (World Golf Championship) event when he beat holder Geoff Ogilvy of Australia in the 36-hole Match Play final in Tucson, Arizona last Sunday.

Reuters SY RS2341