Alex

Noren

The Swede ended 2022 with a pair of top 5s and opened 2023 on the DP World circuit with a third straight top 5. He lost momentum from there with just one top 50 in his last six stroke-play events. Speaking of 50, he’s the third-highest ranked golfer in the field this week (50th) behind only Jon Rahm and Tony Finau. Noren has piled up 10 wins on the DP World Tour but is still searching for his breakout win on the PGA TOUR.

It’s been boom or bust for the Swede lately who arrived on the heels of back-to-back missed cuts following a trio of worldwide top 5s. The local resident also had top 5s in two of his last four tries at PGA National. The 40-year-old is also 40th in the OWGR. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups for the Honda.

The Swede capped off his week in Houston with another steady day of striking. He walked off the course ranked T19 in fairways hit for the week and T22 in GIR Percentage. He also gained 2.4 strokes putting for the event, two of those coming on Sunday. Noren is not in the field for next week’s RSM Classic so this ends his fall schedule which resulted in a 5-for-5 record but this being his lone top 35. He’s cracked the top 70 in the FedExCup in 4-of-5 seasons since joining the PGA TOUR and he’s now back on track to make it 5-of-6.

Alex Noren was the only player inside the top 6 still to complete his round, as the Swede stood at 3 under on the day and 8 under for the week with three holes to play. That left him five shots behind leader Tony Finau, but Noren will return to a 41-foot eagle putt that could trim that deficit. Play was halted at 3:26 p.m. CT, with second-round play resuming at 6:45 a.m. CT Saturday. Only two other players were left on the course inside the top 13: Trey Mullinax and Aaron Wise, both T-7 at 6 under with six holes to play.

The Swede put on a clinic with his irons today, gaining 3.7 strokes on approach by the time he signed his card. “last week was like medium to short course, a lot of wedges that you have to get close. Here is longer, you’ve got to hit fairways and you’ve got to hit greens. So a little bit nervous coming into today. Didn’t feel great in practice, but found something and got the irons a lot better.” If this co-lead holds then it would go in the books as his fourth career first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (3rd/2018 Honda Classic; T17/2018 PLAYERS; T37/2021 Farmers Insurance Open). Noren has opened the season with four finishes in the 36th to 44th range, failing to find many early-season FedExCup points. The 10-time DP World Tour winner is still searching for his first win on the PGA TOUR.

Noren ended at 68th in the FedExCup race last season and did not make the trip to Wentworth in the offseason. He had played in 11 of the 12 recent editions of the BMW PGA Championship. Noren was 113th in strokes gained tee-to-green last season but 18th in putting. He’ll hope to utilize that hot putter this week on the poa annua greens at Silverado. Noren posted a runner-up finish at the Barracuda Championship three starts ago before fading with a WD at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and a T52 at the BMW Championship.

The Swede started his week as the first alternate at The Open but made the decision to fly to Tahoe instead of waiting it out and potentially have the week off. There were two late WDs at The Open which would have given Noren a spot at St. Andrews but this end result turned out alright. “If it was another tournament, I might not have gone here, but I just love this week, and I wanted to have a vacation at home with the kids before the Playoffs start. I wanted to be able to grab some points, either at the Open or here. I didn’t want to just sit out the Open and then having to add a week.” Noren accomplished his goal as he climbed from 76th to 56th in the FedExCup race with this result. He will now enjoy some time off with his family before returning to action for the FEC Playoffs.

Noren was the first alternate at The Open but made the decision to fly to Tahoe early in the week. There ended up being two late WDs ahead of The 150th Open but Noren was already long gone. “Every time they show the Open on TV I get frustrated, but like I said, I love coming here. I think it’s one of the best courses on the TOUR and a great tournament. It’s very enjoyable to play.” Noren has traded 17 birdies with just six bogeys on the week and currently ranks T5 in GIR Percentage on the week (76%).

The Oklahoma State alum, who is already exempt into next week’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, had shot 64 six times previously, including in R2 here last year en route to a T21 (65-64-70-74), and finally breaks that mark in his 408th career round. On 12 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, he rang up nine birdies at holes 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 18, four from between eight and 17 feet, and also missed three scoring tries from inside of 10 feet. The 39-year-old, who opened with an up-and-down 70 (6 birdies, 4 bogeys), gained 1.516 strokes off-the-tee, 2.269 on approach, 1.243 around, and 1.033 on-the-green. This is his 127th career event on the PGA TOUR and is still searching for a first victory to go along with his 10 titles on the European Tour.

Last year marked Norlander’s third appearance in the Zurich Classic as he is a perfect 3-for-3 making it to the weekend with his best finish coming in 2013 with a T-15 result. T-21 last year with Noren by his side in the team format, the Augusta State product will look to find his footing as paychecks have been hard to come by. 1-for-8 making the cut since the end of January, Norlander’s steady iron-play has been wasted as he routinely bleeds strokes to the field on the greens. Noren may have an opportunity to teach Norlander a thing or two as the former Ryder Cupper has been the model of consistency. Making all eight cuts since the end of January, Noren has collected two top-6 finishes and three additional top-26 outings. Known for his short-game prowess, the 39-year-old’s ball-striking has turned a corner and could propel Team Sweden into contention.