Sweden’s Alex Noren played a solid final round on Sunday to easily protect his overnight lead and win the Scandinavian Masters by four shots over last week’s Irish Open winner Soren Kjeldsen.
The 32-year-old, from nearby Stockholm, won his fourth EPGA event and second at the Malmo-hosted event after winning by seven strokes in 2011.
A final round of one-under-par 71 was enough to take the former University of Oklahoma student to victory on a day where conditions left birdies at a premium.
Noren’s 72-hole total of 276 was 12-under-par and left Kjeldsen alone in second on a difficult day of golf that was hindered by poor weather conditions at the PGA Sweden National.
“I’m so pleased. Now I can relax a bit, because it was probably the toughest weekend in terms of wind I’ve ever felt,” Noren said following his victory.
“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,” Noren said.
“I didn’t have to look for my ball in the rough or anything, so it was not that stressful,” he said. “The win was very thrilling, but this one is very pleasing.”
“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,” Noren said.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Noren said.
“You have to enjoy the good days in this game, because you have plenty of bad ones,” he added.
Denmark’s Kjeldsen, who won the Irish Open in a playoff last week that qualified him for next month’s British Open at St Andrews, again produced a world class display on the Malmo layout.
“I didn’t quite feel that I’d done enough,” Kjeldsen said.
“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,” he said.
Four players tied for third on six-under and six shots adrift: Frenchman Alexander Levy, Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer and Swedish pair Jens Dantorp and Sebastian Soderberg.
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