Alex Noren (World No. 17) breaks down his hot streak after injury, why he wasn’t disappointed to miss the Ryder Cup team while serving as vice captain, and what makes Black Desert so tricky: lightning-fast greens and “the most penal rough… with rocks.” He also explains his schedule math to lock status via DPWT Top-10 or PGA Tour Top-100, and how he tweaked practice with his coaches.
All right, we’ll go and get started. We’d like to welcome Alex Noran here to the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship. Uh Alex, number 17 in the world, highest ranked player in the field. Uh it’s been a been an eventful last couple of months, uh winning twice on the on the DP World Tour in including the BMW PJ Championship. Uh and then obviously being a part of that winning European Rder Cup team as a as a vice captain. How would how would you summarize what the last last couple of months have been like? Yeah. Yeah, it was uh it started in probably in um 3M in Minnesota. Started playing good, got some good finishes there and wind them and then like you said the two wins. Um yeah, it was just uh the whole game the whole game just got a little better. Worked on good stuff. Um got a bit of momentum and then so it’s it’s it’s how how golf goes I think. It’s not it not just happens, but it happens with with confidence, with a little bit momentum, and then then good practice. And I guess how how satisfying is it to to see kind of how you’ve come into form considering you were basically out from January through through May with an injury there dealing with that? Yeah, I mean it’s I I got some help from the being having some experience in having an injury before. played a lot of years on tour. Um, didn’t really I don’t think it would have been as maybe easy um or it would have been a lot harder when I was 25 28 to do to come back and but it it’s at the end of end of the day it’s just golf or sport. So you you and your team probably get a good formula how to do it and then you just to do it, you know, and keep keep at it even though it feels tough at moments and Yeah. Awesome. And then uh before you open up to questions, you just got off your uh your nine-hole proam playing playing the front nine here at at at Black Desert. What what’s some of the uh things that stand out to you about the golf course and overall conditioning? I mean, I I think it’s a unbelievable place first of all. Uh, I think it’s an interesting course. The greens are very fast for like they can be pretty firm, I think. Uh, and they’re not soft right now, but early morning round and and the wedges were stopping, but longer irons were bumping, you know, and um and I think, you know, when you tuck these pins, it looks it looks like it can be very tricky shots into the greens and around the greens. Um, you got to keep the ball in play because the the rough is is probably the most penal rough you’ve ever seen with the rocks, you know. So, um, I’m very excited to be here. Yeah. All right, we’ll go to open up to questions. You have a question, raise your hand. We’ll start over here with Shed. Alex, good morning. Thanks for being here. Um, I think you’re eighth in the DP World Tour standings right now, so I know why you’re here. you’re trying to move up from uh from your current position. H how much carryover is it from just the great play you’ve had over there to bring it here? I mean, it can’t be that much different and but is there carryover? Yeah, I mean it’s um yeah, both both tours are are somewhat alike. I mean, I’ve played over there more years than I have here. Uh but uh you know here it tends to be a little faster greens. Um you know and like I said I play most of my golf in in the US. Um, so it’s it’s not so much about where you play, but you got to just have the game for for those courses and for, you know, the events and um I think yeah, it’s but it it obviously carries on the confidence or the play and and what sort of strategy you have with with the practice, you know, and on the course. So overall it it’s you know both tours carry over to each other. Yeah. You probably could have made the European Rder Cup team as well as you were playing. I’m curious if you were disappointed to not be there or somewhat maybe happy to not be there given the atmosphere and how difficult it ended up being for the European players. Yeah, I think um since I I knew I was going to be a vice captain um right after Windham, right, I was in on some of the meetings um you know trying to choose players and or it’s not my decision in the end, but Luke just wanted our input and and the input was pretty clear that I hadn’t performed well enough, you know, by the deadline sort of and then I played really well, you know, right around when they were going to pick and and then just after. So, I wasn’t disappointed and I’ve been in the game for long enough to understand um that you pick players based on the facts that you have at hand. And I think he picked the right team and I was maybe third in line after. So, um, but it was it was cool cuz I also like, uh, you know, the older I get, the more I like coaching or coaching my kids or maybe helping out some young players. I got a nephew that’s 16 that tries to become a pro. Uh, so it was interesting to be on the sort of coaching side of things even though my role wasn’t to coach the players, but maybe just an overall behind the scenes trying to get the team going, you know. Yeah. Didn’t didn’t have a hankering to hit a few shots. No, it just, you know, and as a player, I can really understand what the other what the players are going through through if they’re playing well, you know, just lipping out a bunch of pots. Uh, you know, you just got to stay with it, you know, stay with it. And just small comments like that can help from maybe another player as well. Other questions for Alex? Lisa, I can hear you if Oh, is it for the um how important is it for you to um solidify that standing on the DP World Top 10 to get be in position to have your tour card for next year? Is that something you started the season with an intention of or and it seems that maybe you’re obviously chasing that considering your schedule? Yeah, I mean I like I I lost those four and a half months in the beginning of the year and um I didn’t I started somewhat good and then didn’t play so good uh probably in like June uh early July and then I started playing good after that. So, um, so it was very much up in the air and and the medical status you get is not as good as as the, you know, the top 100 out here or the top 10 there. So, um, I hope to get the uh those rankings from either top 100 here or or top 10 there. And so, it’s it’s very important. Um, and then the elevated is a little bit of different things through world ranking. So, I try to keep up all those three sort of rankings. I try to try to keep up. Yeah. Did something, Quick followup. Did something change or did you find something in your game in July? It looked like, you know, that’s when you started notching those top 10s to the T3 at um in Minnesota. And did did something click for you around then? Uh yeah, I mean it’s it’s always uh I try to always work on on sort of the same things. I I try to see my coach a little bit more more regularly. Uh he’s English and you know he has players on on I think three different tours. So it’s not so easy for him to go as much or for us to see each other as much as when I lived in Europe. So, u well, I made an effort to kind of try to see him more and just with those regular visits, uh, we started working on maybe a more neutral swing or neut more neutral in every part of the game. And then, um, to kind of get a better baseline for, uh, for a probably more versatile game on the course. So, um, so I changed quite a lot in the in how I practice. Not so much like the overall game on the course, but how I practice and me, him, and and my caddy, you know, work pretty tight. And then also got some good help from my old putting coach that that’s in Sweden that I don’t see that much either. So, he he he put me in the right direction as well. So, question right here. Being that you I’m knowing that this is your first time here playing, how were you introduced to this course and what made you ultimately decide to come here and play? Yeah, I mean I I think it first of all I wanted to to play this event. I think it’s a good good tournament. Um it’s good ranking points. Um, and then also I learned a lot from last year. I took some time off in the fall and uh I think it’s better for me to kind of keep up my tournament play and not have too much time to just practice or I’m a bit more in game shape when I have a regular season, regular sort of schedule. Um, so I was really excited to play here. I’ve always liked sort of desert style and dry courses. Uh I know it’s not going to be that windy here, but I I thought it would be a little bit windier and um I like that sort of golf. Yeah. Did Does the Do the fairways challenge you and did you run into any any issues with the with the rocks at any point? Yeah, today I ran into them. Um it’s it’s pretty tight some areas. Um you got to play well. I think the yeah the it’s it’s very demanding sort of around the greens. It’s very slloppy and you run off but also like you say around the fairways and sometimes I think you can play pretty conservatively as well uh on couple of the par fives on the front nine. Uh you know you you got to be very straight to to take that on four days in a row. I think uh like the fifth or sixth hole. Um so it’s it’s interesting course really.
