Alex Noren

Alex Noren played several sports before focusing on golf at age 8. He made his first hole-in-one at age 12. He played at Oklahoma State, where he started as a freshman and was a two-time All-America selection. His teammates included Hunter Mahan and Pablo Martin.
After eight years competing for the Swedish national team as an amateur, he turned professional in 2005, placing third on the 2006 European Challenge Tour before his rookie season on the European Tour the next year. He never finished outside the top seven in his 10 European Challenge Tour starts, earning his first professional victory among those performances at the Rolex Trophy.
He won his first European Tour title at the 2009 Omega European Masters in Switzerland in September, holing a bunker shot for an eagle on the 15th hole and defeating Bradley Dredge by two shots. He also won two consecutive Shot of the Month Awards, the latter for that bunker shot.
2011 Notes: Noren won twice to finish a career-best 14th in the Race to Dubai. He captured the Wales Open in June before winning the Nordea Masters in his native Sweden, winning by eight shots over Richard Finch.
2012 Notes: Played 24 events with seven top-10s. His best finish was T-3rd at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Scottish Open.
2013 Notes: Played 20 events and made 15 cuts, including five top-10s. His best finish was T-4th at Qatar Masters, Nordea Masters, and BMW International Open. He finished 56th in the Race to Dubai.
2014 Notes: Missed all but two events due to tendinitis in both wrists. He finished 56th at the Open de Espana in mid-May. He withdrew from the BMW PGA Championship following an opening-round 76 a week later.
2015 Notes: Bouncing back from his wrist problems, Noren posted three top-11 results in his first four starts, including runner-up at the Dubai Desert Classic. He won the Nordea Masters by four shots over Soren Kjeldsen. In 17 European Tour starts, Noren finished in the top 10 four times. He placed 37th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Despite a slow start, he enjoyed his best year to date. He earned his first top-10, a T-6th, at the Open de Espana, then a T-9th at the Volvo China Open. Nine weeks later, he finished 8th at the French Open. Over the next 18 weeks, the Swede tasted victory four times, starting with a win at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. He was two-under-par over his last seven holes to defeat Tyrrell Hatton by a shot. Four weeks later, he made it to the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play finals, losing to Anthony Wall. At the Omega European Masters in the Alps, he overcame Scott Hend on the first playoff hole to win at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. Six weeks later, he won by two at the British Masters, and four weeks after he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge. With that victory, he climbed to 9th in the Official World Golf Ranking, becoming the fourth Swede to enter the top 10 of the rankings and the first Swede to win four times in a single season. He finished T-23rd at the DP World Tour Dubai to rank 3rd in the Race to Dubai. He ended his year with a T-5th at the ISPS Handa World Cup, along with David Lingmerth on the Sweden team, at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Australia.
2017 Notes: He enjoyed his first top-10 of the season when he reached the quarterfinals (T-5th) of the WGC-Dell Match Play, where he lost to the eventual winner Dustin Johnson. He finished 10th at The Players Championship and won his biggest event to date with a victory at the BMW PGA Championship, thanks to a final-round 62 for a two-shot winning margin over Francesco Molinari. It was Noren's ninth win on the European Tour. He finished T-10th at the French Open. He had his second top-10 finish in a major (in 17 starts) with his T-6th at the British Open and another top-10 at the Omega European Masters. He ended the year 8th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: In his first season with a PGA Tour card, he played 18 events, making 14 cuts with three top-10 finishes. He was 43rd in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour, he played 12 events and made 12 cuts with four top-10s. He finished 6th in the Race to Dubai. He joined the PGA Tour and in his first start of the year, finished T-2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he lost a six-hole playoff to Jason Day in a Monday finish. He was 3rd at the Honda Classic, one shot away from joining the playoff between Justin Thomas and Luke List. At the WGC-Dell Match Play, Noren defeated Justin Thomas, 5 and 3, in the consolation match. He was the only player to advance as far as the quarterfinals in 2017 and '18. He returned to the European Tour. Playing at the BMW PGA Championship, he finished with a final-round 67 to finish T-3rd, three shots behind winner Francesco Molinari. He won the French Open by a shot over Russell Knox, Chris Wood, and Julian Suri. He made his Ryder Cup debut in France and went 2-1-0 for the week. He defeated Bryson DeChambeau, 5 and 4, in the singles. He finished the year with a T-9th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and a T-8th at the Hero World Challenge.
2019 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 14 cuts with five top-25 finishes. He was 129th in the FedExCup standings. Played in 16 European Tour events, making 14 cuts with no top-ten finishes. Was 67th in the Race to Dubai. He was T-17th at the WGC-Dell Match Play. In group play won two of three matches but lost to Haotong Li in a playoff. He was T-11th in the British Open, then the next week T-12th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He was 121st in the FedExCup standings going into the Wyndham but finished T-60th to drop to 129th. He played on the PGA Tour in 2020 off his 126-150th FedExCup standings. In the fall, he played on the European Tour and was T-15th at the Alfred Dunhill Links and finished his year T-44th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
2020 Notes: Only played on the PGA Tour in 17 events and made 13 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 52nd on the FedExCup points list. Was T-10th at the RSM Classic after the break and finished T-3rd with rounds of 66-66 at the 3M Open, three shots back of winner Michael Thompson. He finished T-9th at the Barracuda Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-8th at the Northern Trust and T-40th at the BMW Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 33rd in the FedExCup standings. Held a share of the lead after the first round 64 at the Farmers Insurance Open before finishing T-37th. Shot a final-round 64 to finish T-4th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He represented Sweden at the Toyko Olympic Games, finishing T-16th. In the FedExCup playoffs shot a final round 66 to finish T-4th at the Northern Trust, four shots back of the Tony Finau/Cameron Smith playoff. Shot 67-66 over the weekend to finish T-9th at the BMW Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 70th in the FedExCup standings. He played in 8 events on the DP World Tour, making six cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 13th in the Race to Dubai. Shot 67-68 over the weekend to finish T-6th at the Phoenix Open, just two shots back of the Scottie Scheffler/Patrick Cantlay playoff. He was T-5th at the Honda Classic, six shots back of winner Sepp Straka. He finished 2nd at the Barracuda Championship, a point back of winner Chez Reavie. It was his second career runner-up on the PGA Tour and first since losing in a playoff at the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open. In the FedExCup playoffs, he withdrew from the FedEx St. Jude Championship after a first-round 73 and was T-52nd at the BMW Championship. On the DP World Tour was T-2nd at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, a shot back of winner Ryan Fox. He was T-2nd at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, two shots back of Jon Rahm.
2023 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 101st in the FedExCup standings. Held a share of the lead after the first round of the Houston Open before finishing T-4th, eight shots back of winner Tony Finau. He was T-5th at the Abu Dhabi Championship, four shots back of winner Victor Perez. Was T-10th at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed and T-9th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Played in six fall events and was T-3rd at the Shriners Children's Open, two shots back of winner Tom Kim. He was 2nd at the Bermuda Championship, two shots back of the winner Camilo Villegas.
2024 Notes: Was T-9th at the Cognizant Classic. Shot 66-65 over the weekend to finish 3rd at the CJ Cup of Byron Nelson, two shots back of winner Taylor Pendrith. Shot a final round 65 at the Genesis Scottish Open to finish T-10th and get one of the last spots to play in the Open Championship.