Henrik Stenson out of Houston Open, battling illness

Henrik Stenson’s final Masters prep suffered a blow on Monday when the Swede pulled out of the Shell Houston Open with the flu.

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Stenson announced his withdrawal via Twitter, also sharing that he won’t play a previously scheduled practice round at Augusta National ahead of Houston.

No Augusta practice, No Shell Houston Open due to getting the flu, hope to be up and running next week in Georgia. H

— Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) March 30, 2015

The world No. 2 still intends to play in the Masters.

In his last three PGA Tour starts, Stenson has finished in the top five in them all, including a runner-up finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Stenson, who will turn 39 this week, had his best-ever finish at last year’s Masters, finishing tied for 14th place.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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