admin
CHARLOTTE, N.C. â Alex Noren looks like he’s trying to cram for a test when he’s practicing. And he treats every round he plays like another test. On Sunday, he faces the biggest test of all â trying to chase down world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the final group of the 107th PGA Championship.
Noren, 42, birdied four of the last five holes at Quail Hollow Club to pass Saturdayâs test with flying colors, posting 5-under 66 to sit solo second and three strokes back at 8-under 205.Â
The Swede has developed a well-earned reputation for his work ethic; he is often first at the range and last to leave and has the calluses to prove it. The DP World Tour posted a picture of his hands that tells it all. He is a range rat extraordinaire; a modern-day Vijay Singh who never saw a bucket of balls he couldn’t finish.
Noren, 42, birdied four of the last five holes at Quail Hollow Club to pass Saturdayâs test with flying colors, posting 5-under 66 to sit solo second and three strokes back at 8-under 205.Â
âI donât think anyone works harder than him,â longtime pro Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark once said of Noren. âHeâs always full of energy. Heâs like one of those rabbits with a battery.â
For years, Norenâs life revolved around golf, and he became fixated on the perfect swing. In 2014, he hit so many balls that he developed tendinitis in both wrists and played only twice that year.
âI used to practice all the hours of the day because if I didnât, I felt like I had left something out there,â he said.
Noren is a surprise contender for not only his first major â he would join Henrik Stenson as just the second male Swede to do so â but his first Tour title in part because he hasnât been able to practice or play up to his high standard. He just returned last week at the Truist Championship after being sidelined since August with a torn right hamstring.Â
âIt’s a bad injury, but you can still live a quite normal life because you have two other tendons that support it. But I couldn’t swing a club. I couldn’t jump or run. I could walk kind of slowly and live a normal life,â he explained. âI could coach my kids. Spent a lot of time with the family. It’s been quite nice.â
As was his play in the third round at the PGA, which earned him a pairing alongside Scheffler in the final group.
âOn 17 and on 18, I hit two of the best shots this week, and that’s what you need to get close to those holes,â he said.
All of Norenâs hard work is paying off, and he has the calluses to show for it.
#Alex #Noren #catch #Scottie #Scheffler #PGA #Champiosnhip
