Sweden’s Alex Noren captured a second Nordea Masters title and singling out his Callaway Big Bertha driver as instrumental in winning by four shots.
Noren, 32 birdied the first and 18th holes in a one under par 71 for a 12-under par victory tally in bright but cold and windy conditions on the Lakes Course at the PGA National Sweden.
The shaven-haired Stockholm-born Noren, who is a fan of the great Ben Hogan, ended a four-year victory drought after having won a first Nordea Masters in 2011.
However Noren is currently competing on a European Tour medical exemption missing all but two events of the 2014 as he struggled tendonitis in both wrists.
Alex Noren (SWE) wins the 2015 Nordea Masters at the PGA Sweden National, Bara, Malmo, Sweden. 07/06/2015. Picture David Lloyd | www.golffile.ie
“I have been pretty nervous all day but I’m so pleased and noow I can relax a bit because it was probably the toughest weekend in terms of wind I’ve ever felt,” said Noren.
“When you’re in the lead you can think a lot, and it was very tough. I hit a few bad shots – I think on the seventh, eighth and ninth – but I played quite well on the back nine.
“I didn’t have to look for my ball in the rough or anything, so it was not that stressful.
“I wasn’t too confident coming into this week because I’ve had a tough time in the wind lately and here you really have to hit the right shots to get around. I got better as the week went on.
“The key to my round today was that I hit my Callaway Big Bertha driver really well and that helped in the windy conditions we had today.
“I’ve had a few good tournaments but I haven’t played well on the last day. When I’ve had a chance – like at Wentworth, I had a small chance – I’ve had a slow round.
“I kept my poise and tried to hit the shots we needed, and it worked. My caddie really helped calm me down and make me stick to my routine.
“You have to enjoy the good days in this game because you have plenty of bad ones.”
A birdie at the par five 18th saw Søren Kjeldsen, winner of last week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation, finish on eight under in second place.
He said: “I was really determined to come and play well here. I didn’t quite know how to react after last week and I wasn’t sure how much it took out of me, but Alistair helped a lot and on Tuesday lunchtime we said it’s time to get back to work.
“I’ve done that and mentally I felt very good. Today was especially pleasing because I learned a lesson last week about looking at leaderboards. I never looked at one today and it helped me a lot. I felt very calm all day, even on the last few holes.
“I didn’t quite feel that I’d done enough. I played a really solid round today but I knew I probably needed something pretty special to give me a chance. I didn’t quite do that but I was very pleased with the way I played.”
Malmö native Jens Dantorp, Alexander Levy, Sebastian Soderberg and Maximilian Kieffer all finished two shots further back on six under, while World Number Four Henrik Stenson signed off with a 74 for a share of 13th place.
Kieffer, who began the day two shots off the lead, matched Noren’s birdie on the first but carded back-to-back double bogeys on the fourth and fifth on his way to a three over par 75.
The 24 year old German said: “It has been a great week. Obviously I’m a bit disappointed because when you’re in contention on the final day, you want to win it. But it’s another experience I can learn from.
“I’m very happy for Alex. He’s a nice guy and a great player and deserved to win. Without the injuries he’d probably be in the top ten in the world. After so long out, I’m happy he came back and won.”
