Henrik

Norlander

The Swede is back on the big stage full-time after graduating from the Korn Ferry circuit and his confidence continues to grow after a T11 last week at the Bermuda Championship and a top 10 this week. “It’s just fun to be back playing out here consistently. I feel like I can, you know, actually play golf again. I’ve been going through a little bit of this and that and struggled with injuries and confidence. I’m starting to put a few things together... I’m just happy to be back and playing somewhat the way I know I’m capable of.” As a past champion, he was still picking up some PGA TOUR starts but had settled for just 10-to-14 starts in four straight seasons. Lingmerth’s precision-based game is well-suited for shorter layouts and he just took full advantage over the last two weeks. Sea Island is likely another good venue for him in two weeks.

This is the 35-year-old’s third Rocket after a T12 in 2020 (67-70-69-68) and a T38 last year. He arrived 150th in the FedExCup standings, missing five of his last six cuts, interrupted by a T31 at the opposite-field Barracuda two starts ago, where he was in the top 5 after each of the first three rounds in the Modified Stableford format, including T2 at halftime. On 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, the Augusta University alum lost 0.245 strokes off-the-tee but gained 1.772 approaching, 0.996 around, and 1.152 with the flat stick, converting three of five birdies from between 11 and 20 feet, including a walk-off 11-footer at the par-3 ninth.

The Swede wasn’t swinging a steady stick today (just 8-of-14 fairways) but really dialed in his recovery game to land 15 greens in regulation. “I hit a bad drive on 1, pitched out and hit a good wedge and made about a 10-footer. That brought a lot of confidence. Then I hit it to like four feet three holes in a row, made all of them.” He got a good break at the fifth to keep his momentum rolling and the rest is history. Norlander started the week at just 159th in the FedExCup race. “I’m pretty excited to not make travel plans on Friday afternoon. That’s been sort of what I’ve been doing every Friday the last few weeks. But yeah, it’s a lot of pressure. I’m going to be nervous, but I believe I’m ready for it. "

The Swede swallowed an opening bogey at the par-4 10th but traded seven birdies with two bogeys on his final 16 holes played. He arrived at just 159th in the FedExCup race but talked about his fondness for the Modified Stableford scoring system used this week, “I’ve been playing really bad this year, so I think it’s pretty nice you can let it go a little easier here because you make you make bogey-birdie, you’re still picking up ground. It feels a little easier to recover, so for me it’s a lot easier to let it go, I think.” He’s seeing the first for the first time this week and only got 18 holes of prep in the lead-up but had no troubles taking it low at the Old Greenwood Course today.

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.

Set to make his sixth RSM Classic appearance, Norlander has found his footing in Sea Island previously. After missing the cut in his debut start, the Olympian was a playoff loser to Mackenzie Hughes in 2016. Since then, he has captured two top-60 finishes and a top-5 finish in his last outing in 2019. Arriving this season a perfect 5-for-5 on weekend showings, Norlander appears primed for another strong start at Sea Island. With two top-5 finishes in his last seven tournaments dating back to last season, Norlander has proven if his irons cooperate, he has the game to contend. Unable to find the winner’s circle yet, the Augusta State product has an opportunity to be latest first-timer to come through at the RSM Classic.

The 34-year-old began T22, six back, and rode a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch at 13-15 to a career-tying-low 64 (x4). It’s his second consecutive T4 at the SFC, and oddly enough, was T22 after 54 holes last year as well before closing with 65. The Swede also records his second top-5 finish in his last three starts (T5, 2021 Barbasol). For the week, he recorded rounds of 68-66-70-64, totaled one eagle and 22 birdies versus four bogeys, and ranked 60th in SG: Off-the-Tee (-2.383), 1st in SG: Approach (8.390), 10th in SG: Around (2.761), 30th in SG: Putting (2.078), including a 3.898 SGP in R4, and 3rd SG: Tee-to-Green (8.761). The Augusta University alum is in the published field at the upcoming Shriners. See link below to post-round comments.

The Augusta University alum posted a back-door T4 here last year, where he was T24 at halftime (69-70-69-65), and will play out of the fifth-to-last pairing on Saturday with pre-tourney odds fave Sam Burns. This is his first time in the top 10 thru 36 holes since solo 3rd at last season’s AT&T Pebble Beach, where he faded to T26 (64-70-74-73). On eight (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, the Swede penciled six birdies at holes 3, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 15 (fringe-shot from 9'11"), three conventionally from between 12 and 17 feet, recording a -0.605 SG: Off-the-Tee but 2.308 SG: Approach, 0.823 SG: Around, and 1.183 SG: Putting. He opened with 68 (6 birdies, 2 bogeys) on the exact same fairways and GIR hit as he did today.

A great finish to Norlander’s 2020-2021 regular season was halted with a nagging back injury at the Wyndham Championship. Having withdrawn from the event, Norlander then went on to miss the cut at The Northern Trust, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. However, before any injury concerns entered the equation, the big Swede was amid a strong stretch of golf. Connecting for five consecutive cuts, Norlander captured a top-5 finish at the Barbasol Championship as well as an appearance in the 2020 Olympic Games. Looking to regain such form to begin his season, Norlander should feel more than comfortable at the Country Club of Jackson having finished in a tie for fourth in last year’s Sanderson Farms Championship.

The Swede was set to make his first start since the Olympics but that will have to wait another week. Prior to Tokyo, he had rattled off five straight cuts made including a T5 at the Barbasol Championship. His game appeared to be rounding back into shape after a mid-season hiccup. Norlander started the week at 83rd in the FedExCup standings which means he will crack the field at next week’s first playoff event as long as his back injury improves by then.