• Nordea Masters, Round Four

Superior Noren secures seven-shot success despite 77

Alex Noren with his Nordea Masters trophy © Getty Images

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Alexander Noren was a comfortable and deserved winner of the Scandinavian Masters on Sunday, despite succumbing to difficult conditions during a final round of 77.

The runaway leader of the tournament after three near-perfect rounds that saw him make the treacherous Bro Hof Slott Golf Club look far easier than any other player managed, Noren finally saw his 11-shot advantage eroded somewhat over the final day as the course belatedly got some payback - but it was nonetheless little more than a procession as the Swede eventually secured a seven-shot victory.

Having had only one bogey and a double bogey in the tournament prior to the start of his final round, Noren ominously birdied the first but then dropped four shots in seven holes to the turn. The 14th then saw a double-bogey six that brought the reigning Wales Open champion back within six shots of his nearest challenger, adding a slight sense of concern to his closing stages.

That concern was ended at the 17th, however: An island-green par-three that had seen players make 11s and 12s on Sunday as the wind made finding the putting surface horribly difficult.

Noren, however, replicated his form on the first three days and safely found the green with his tee-shot, setting up a fourth successive par at the hole and leaving him with plenty of shots in hand down the 18th, as he finished with a birdie flourish to sign for a round of 77 and a seven-shot victory at 15-under.

"I am so relieved. The only thing I thought of all day was the 17th," Noren said afterwards. "I said it doesn't matter how I play up to that, I just have to survive 17 and I did.

"I've never seen wind like this in Sweden. Every hole was super tough and even downwind it was hard to choose the clubs."

After winning at Celtic Manor earlier in the season, Noren added: "It's even more amazing at home, everyone cheering you on and you don't really feel that somewhere else.

"It's amazing, you see some friendly faces in the crowd and it's unbelievable. I'm very happy."

Noren aside, undoubtedly the round of the day went to Englishman Richard Finch, who was the only man to get under par. Finch birdied three of his first five holes on the way to a very impressive three-under round of 69 - especially considering he was one to fall victim of the treacherous 17th, carding a triple-bogey six.

That performance was nevertheless enough to hand him second behind Noren, with another Swede, Nicklas Lemke, three shots further back in third after a closing 73. The top five was rounded out by two men at four-under, with Australian Scott Hend and Spaniard Pablo Martin carding rounds of 74 to finish the tournament in decent fashion.

American Bubba Watson started the day as Noren's nearest challenger, but he only underlined the difficulty of conditions further as he stumbled to a closing round of 78 that saw him slip back to three-under for the tournament, only just inside the top ten. It also meant that his compatriot Dustin Johnson ultimately finished on level terms in their individual contest, dropping only two shots on the day to finish three-under overall.

Rising South Korean Seung-yul Noh (75) and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh (75) also finished at three-under, while Englishman John Parry (75) and Wales's Jamie Donaldson (76) completed the top ten one shot further back.

Elsewhere, the professional Robert Karlsson defeated his amateur namesake to preserve his honour, firing a round of 77 to finish level par for the event - narrowly better than the other Robert Karlsson's 78 and two-over finish.

On a day that was incredibly difficult for some of the early starters, the worst round of the day accolade went to Englishman Steve Webster - who had an 11 at the 17th to blame for a round of 91 that saw him come home in 49. Fredrik Andersson Hed fared even worse with a 12 at the same hole, but still managed to record 'only' a 90 for the day.

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