Alex Noren makes it three 2016 wins at British Masters

The Swede finished two clear of Austria's Bernd Wiesberger at The Grove

Alex Noren wins British Masters
Alex Noren wins British Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sweden’s Alex Noren claimed his third European Tour title of the season with victory in the British Masters supported by Sky Sports at The Grove.

Alex Noren, already twice a winner on the European Tour in 2016, at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and the Omega European Masters, finished two clear of Bernd Wiesberger at The Grove. Lee Westwood finished third a further shot back.

Noren started the rain-delayed final day three shots ahead of the field, but his advantage had been pegged back to just one on the 11th and a birdie from Wiesberger on the 15th brought the Austrian level.

Noren struck back with a birdie of his own at the 15th and he stayed two clear with two solid pars at the 16th and 17th holes. He finished with another birdie to win by two.

“The last three-and-half holes, I managed to play the best I played all week, so I'm really happy and proud about that,” he said afterwards.

3 Talking points from the British Masters

1 – This was Alex Noren’s seventh career European Tour victory. He should move into the top-20 on the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He has won three of the last eight European Tour events he has played in and has racked up €1,892,991 in those tournaments.

Alex Noren Tour putting tips:

2 – Lee Westwood showed some of his best form during a final round of 67 to end the week in third place. "It has been a successful week. Obviously The Ryder Cup was disappointing for many reasons, for everybody, really. And then last week I struggled to sort of get back into it and get my tournament head on,” he said. "This week, everything has been back together and I played well. Everything was good… It's been a great event. I think everybody's enjoyed it. It's a fantastic venue in fantastic condition. The greens are as good as I've putted on in Britain in October for many a year.”

3 – Two further Englishmen, Richard Bland and Tommy Fleetwood posted top-five finishes, sharing fourth spot. For Fleetwood, it was his best result of the season, although he has showed solid form over the last few months. Richard Bland has enjoyed a fine second half of 2016. He has finished in the top-10 four times in his last six starts.

British Masters supported by Sky Sports The Grove, Chandlers Cross, Hertfordshire Oct 13-16 Purse €3,333,000, par 71

1    Alex Noren (Swe)        67    65    65    69    266    €553,969 2    Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 68    66    67    67    268    €369,309 3    Lee Westwood (Eng)    67    68    67    67    269    €208,071   T4    Richard Bland (Eng)    67    64    69    71    271    €121,252 T4    Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 66    67    68    70    271    €121,252 T4    Peter Hanson (Swe)    70    65    66    70    271    €121,252 T4    Alexander Levy (Fra)    70    66    68    67    271    €121,252 T4    Graeme McDowell (NIR) 68    68    67    68    271    €121,252 T9    Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)    68    66    70    68    272    €70,464 T9    Richard Sterne (RSA)    66    68    67    71    272    €70,464

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?