Henrik Stenson joined the European Tour in 2001, and won his first tournament during his first season: The Benson & Hedges International Open. His second success on the Tour happened three years later when he won the Heritage at Woburn in the UK in 2004.

Then, from 2005 to 2008, he had four consecutive years ranking in the top ten of the European Tour Order of Merit, winning both the Commercial bank Qatar Masters and BMW International Open in 2006, and the Dubai Desert Classic in 2007. On the same year, he won the WGC- Accenture Match Play where he beat the defending champion Geoff Ogilvy in the final. In 2007, he ranked 4th of the European Tour Order of Merit, his best to date.

Partnering Robert Karlsson, he won for Sweden the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in 2008 just before capturing the title at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa (twelve man invitational gathering the highest ranked golfers of the year) to end the season with flying colors. Those prolific years secured him his consecutive first and second appearances in the Ryder Cup in 2006 and 2008 (Henrik even had the privilege of holing the putt that won the Ryder Cup for Europe on his debut in 2006).

Eventually, 2009 was an outstanding season for him, as he won The Players Championship at Sawgrass (the biggest prize money tournament, $ 1,710,000). After capturing this brilliant title, he took fourth place in the world rankings (the highest a Swedish player has ever been ranked).