Alex Norén is making his first Italian Open start since 2012 and first ever at Golf Club Milano.
The 35-year-old Swede has been pretty consistent all year, sprinkling six top-10s, one of which his BMW PGA Championship win, throughout the calendar.
Norén’s last start was a missed cut, his first since July. He took last week off and should be fresh for this week with just four starts made since August. Four of Norén’s last six wins have come after at least a week off.
His last five starts read: T6, T28, T67, T6, MC.
Norén has grown to become a pretty good driver of the golf ball. His 58.6 percent mark off the tee is his best since 2011 and his scrambling (67.86 percent) is at the top of the charts.
At No. 15 in the world, Norén is the third-highest ranked player in a strong field. It’ll be hard to find good value on him, but that’s OK. GCM seems to favor Norén’s game and he’s proven he can show up at any course in the world and play well.
At No. 5 in the Race to Dubai, Norén is capable of making a late push toward the title. He’s been practicing accordingly.
“I practiced quite hard for those two weeks and tried to get this end of the season, to end it well,” Norén said at his British Masters pre-tournament press conference. “Yeah, so it’s been good practice.”