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Alex Noren Plays Round of His Life, Wins at BMW PGA Championship

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The only thing less known among American golf fans than Alex Noren (who started at Oklahoma State in 2001) might be the tournament he won on Sunday by two strokes over Francesco Molinari, the BMW PGA Championship.

The BMW PGA is the European Tour’s flagship event as well as its answer to the PGA Tour’s Players Championship. In other words, a big deal. Noren came back from seven down with a course record 62 on Sunday and made an eagle at the final hole to notch his fifth victory in the last 12 months.

The eagle was filthy. Noren, who moved to No. 8 in the world on Monday with the win, had 225 yards to the pin on his final hole of the week. He flushed it.

 

“Today I had a good yardage,” said Noren. “I knew a 5-iron would carry the front and I couldn’t hit it over the green, even if I tried. That kind of gives you a lot of confidence in a shot.

“So when I stood over the ball, I knew if I just catch it pretty good and don’t hook it, I’ll be all right. Then it came off really nice and straight at the flag, but when you get all the numbers right and the wind is right, it gives you a lot of confidence, and you have a very clear picture in your mind what you want to do, yeah.

“But it was still very nervous, yeah.”

Noren tied a tournament record held by Rory McIlroy Simon Kahn who both also overcame seven-stroke deficits on the final day to win at Wentworth.

“It feels very amazing and very crazy, because I had no intention of trying to win this morning,” Noren admitted after his round. “You know, I didn’t even think about it … So it’s a great feeling now, but it feels unreal, yeah.”

Fellow Oklahoma State golfer Peter Uihlein, who played next to Noren on Sunday, said it was the greatest round he’s ever seen.

Noren’s win at Wentworth marks a torrid stretch in which he’s won the Scottish Open, European Masters, British Masters and Nedbank Golf Challenge to go along with that BMW PGA Championship. He might not be a household name here in the U.S., but he’s been proving he belongs for a while in Europe.

“I think a lot of Europeans love Europe,” said Noren. “We love playing here. If you’re comparing with the American tour, the only thing (we’ve) been missing is like big events like this.

“I think they are in the right direction, and I think a lot of American players view this tournament as an extremely good tournament. I think we have these tournaments coming up are very good tournaments, so I’m seeing the future looking very bright. I would love to play these big events all the time, yeah.”

Noren’s future, anyway, is looking splendid as he heads for a summer in which he’ll play all the major championships once again and look to add to his now-growing total of professional wins which currently stands at 10. One of the bigger holes in his resume is that he only has one top 10 at a major and has only made two cuts since 2012.

I bet that changes this summer in a big way.

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