Noren wins Nedbank Challenge by six strokes - his fourth European Tour victory of season
Gary Player (left) and Alex Noren (Getty Images(c)
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Alex Noren posted a closing 63 to win
the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player by six shots and claim
his fourth European Tour victory of the season.
The Swede carded an eagle, eight birdies and a solitary bogey to finish the weekend at Sun City, South Africa on 14 under par 274 and will move up to third in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
South Korean Jeunghun Wang, who held a three-shot lead on Saturday night, finished six shots behind Noren in second, one stroke clear of Ricardo Gouveia, Alejandro Cañizares, Victor Dubuisson, home favourite Branden Grace and Andy Sullivan.
Noren's countryman Henrik Stenson, who leads the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, fired a birdie at the last to finish eighth on six under.
Danny Willett produced a 69 on Sunday to finish on three under and keep in touch with Stenson ahead of next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Englishman Willett, Noren and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy will do battle with Stenson at Jumeirah Golf Estates in a bid to win the Race to Dubai.
Noren, who led at the halfway stage of the competition, began the day six shots off the lead but soon closed the gap courtesy of birdies at the first three holes and another gain at the fifth.
Noren holed his 30-foot birdie putt at the seventh before repeating the trick from a similar distance at the next to move to 11 under.
When Wang carded a disappointing double bogey at the eighth, Noren briefly found himself with a one-shot lead, but the South Korean fired a birdie at the ninth to join him at the summit.
Noren regained the outright lead at the tenth, however, effortlessly knocking in his 25-foot eagle putt before chipping in for a birdie at the 11th to get to 14 under.
The 34 year old dropped his first shot of the day at the 14th but rolled in from eight feet at the 16th to return to 14 under.
And with Wang carding bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 18th, Noren secured his eighth European Tour title by six shots.
Gouveia and Dubuisson will join Noren in Dubai next week, with their joint third-place finishes taking them up to 53rd and 47th respectively in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
South African Jaco van Zyl will also be in Dubai after he finished tenth on four under to move to 56th place.
Looking ahead to next week, Stenson said: "Alex playing as well as he does just motivates me even more to bring my game next week and then try and be up there."
Gouveia's Dubai Delight
PRIZEMONEY IN EUROS
PAR 288 (4x72)
1 NOREN, Alex SWE 69 67 75 63 274 1,048,522
The Swede carded an eagle, eight birdies and a solitary bogey to finish the weekend at Sun City, South Africa on 14 under par 274 and will move up to third in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
South Korean Jeunghun Wang, who held a three-shot lead on Saturday night, finished six shots behind Noren in second, one stroke clear of Ricardo Gouveia, Alejandro Cañizares, Victor Dubuisson, home favourite Branden Grace and Andy Sullivan.
Noren's countryman Henrik Stenson, who leads the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, fired a birdie at the last to finish eighth on six under.
Danny Willett produced a 69 on Sunday to finish on three under and keep in touch with Stenson ahead of next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Englishman Willett, Noren and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy will do battle with Stenson at Jumeirah Golf Estates in a bid to win the Race to Dubai.
Noren, who led at the halfway stage of the competition, began the day six shots off the lead but soon closed the gap courtesy of birdies at the first three holes and another gain at the fifth.
Noren holed his 30-foot birdie putt at the seventh before repeating the trick from a similar distance at the next to move to 11 under.
When Wang carded a disappointing double bogey at the eighth, Noren briefly found himself with a one-shot lead, but the South Korean fired a birdie at the ninth to join him at the summit.
Noren regained the outright lead at the tenth, however, effortlessly knocking in his 25-foot eagle putt before chipping in for a birdie at the 11th to get to 14 under.
The 34 year old dropped his first shot of the day at the 14th but rolled in from eight feet at the 16th to return to 14 under.
And with Wang carding bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 18th, Noren secured his eighth European Tour title by six shots.
Gouveia and Dubuisson will join Noren in Dubai next week, with their joint third-place finishes taking them up to 53rd and 47th respectively in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
South African Jaco van Zyl will also be in Dubai after he finished tenth on four under to move to 56th place.
Looking ahead to next week, Stenson said: "Alex playing as well as he does just motivates me even more to bring my game next week and then try and be up there."
Gouveia's Dubai Delight
Ricardo Gouveia was delighted after a
strong finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge saw
him book his place in next week's season-ending DP World Tour
Championship.
Gouveia, who topped the Challenge Tour Rankings last season, posted a five-under-par 67 today to finish in a tie for third place on seven under.
The 25 year old secured his spot in this week's field with a strong performance at the Turkish Airlines Open last weekend and Gouveia is thrilled to have repeated the trick this week.
He said: "It's massive for me to make it to Dubai.
"Going into the last regular-season event in Portugal, I had to play well to get into Turkey and then I had to play well in Turkey to get in this week, and again, I had to play well this week to get in Dubai.
"So I'm just really happy."
Gouveia began his final round nine shots behind overnight leader Jeunghun Wang after producing rounds of 74, 68 and 72 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively.
And he started brightly on day four, firing back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes to get to four under.
After dropping his first shot of the day at the fifth, Gouveia made a gain at the ninth to reach the turn in 34.
Gouveia picked up further shots at the tenth and 11th before carding a second bogey at the 13th.
And birdies at the 15th and 17th saw him move to seven under.
"It was a great week," added Gouveia. "I didn't start very well but I knew my game was good. I just stayed patient.
"I'm very satisfied to shoot a five-under round on the last day."
Noren has made more than $3.3million this season
The winner's cheque of $1.16 million/1,048,522 euros at Sun City took the 34-year-old Noren's 2016 earnings above $3.3 million. Two years ago, Noren earned less than $6,000 for the whole season.
FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY Gouveia, who topped the Challenge Tour Rankings last season, posted a five-under-par 67 today to finish in a tie for third place on seven under.
The 25 year old secured his spot in this week's field with a strong performance at the Turkish Airlines Open last weekend and Gouveia is thrilled to have repeated the trick this week.
He said: "It's massive for me to make it to Dubai.
"Going into the last regular-season event in Portugal, I had to play well to get into Turkey and then I had to play well in Turkey to get in this week, and again, I had to play well this week to get in Dubai.
"So I'm just really happy."
Gouveia began his final round nine shots behind overnight leader Jeunghun Wang after producing rounds of 74, 68 and 72 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively.
And he started brightly on day four, firing back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes to get to four under.
After dropping his first shot of the day at the fifth, Gouveia made a gain at the ninth to reach the turn in 34.
Gouveia picked up further shots at the tenth and 11th before carding a second bogey at the 13th.
And birdies at the 15th and 17th saw him move to seven under.
"It was a great week," added Gouveia. "I didn't start very well but I knew my game was good. I just stayed patient.
"I'm very satisfied to shoot a five-under round on the last day."
Noren has made more than $3.3million this season
The winner's cheque of $1.16 million/1,048,522 euros at Sun City took the 34-year-old Noren's 2016 earnings above $3.3 million. Two years ago, Noren earned less than $6,000 for the whole season.
PRIZEMONEY IN EUROS
PAR 288 (4x72)
1 NOREN, Alex SWE 69 67 75 63 274 1,048,522
2 | WANG Jeunghun | SKOR | 68 | 73 | 64 | 75 | 280 | 699,012 | ||||
3 | CAÑIZARES Alejandro | ESP | 71 | 68 | 74 | 68 | 281 | 276,812 | ||||
3 | DUBUISSON Victor | FRA | 69 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 281 | 276,812 | ||||
3 | GOUVEIA Ricardo | POR | 74 | 68 | 72 | 67 | 281 | 276,812 | ||||
3 | GRACE Branden | RSA | 71 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 281 | 276,812 | ||||
3 | SULLIVAN Andy | ENG | 72 | 69 | 68 | 72 | 281 | 276,812 | ||||
8 | STENSON Henrik | SWE | 69 | 74 | 69 | 70 | 282 | 157,279 | ||||
9 | OOSTHUIZEN Louis | RSA | 72 | 66 | 70 | 75 | 283 | 138,406 | ||||
10 | VAN ZYL Jaco | RSA | 69 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 284 | 125,823 | ||||
11 | JACQUELIN Raphaël | FRA | 74 | 72 | 72 | 67 | 285 | 109,768 | ||||
11 | WILLETT Danny | ENG | 75 | 74 | 67 | 69 | 285 | 109,768 | ||||
13 | LINGMERTH David | SWE | 71 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 286 | 99,940 | ||||
14 | FLEETWOOD Tommy | ENG | 75 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 287 | 91,042 | ||||
14 | LUITEN Joost | NED | 74 | 70 | 74 | 69 | 287 | 91,042 | ||||
16 | DREDGE Bradley | WAL | 73 | 69 | 75 | 71 | 288 | 81,785 | ||||
16 | JAIDEE Thongchai | THA | 76 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 288 | 81,785 | ||||
16 | KJELDSEN Søren | DEN | 74 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 288 | 81,785 | ||||
16 | ZANOTTI Fabrizio | PAR | 70 | 68 | 78 | 72 | 288 | 81,785 | ||||
20 | BLAND Richard | ENG | 76 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 289 | 71,216 | ||||
20 | BOURDY Grégory | FRA | 74 | 76 | 71 | 68 | 289 | 71,216 | ||||
20 | FITZPATRICK Matthew | ENG | 76 | 67 | 72 | 74 | 289 | 71,216 | ||||
20 | LI Haotong | CHN | 72 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 289 | 71,216 | ||||
20 | STERNE Richard | RSA | 74 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 289 | 71,216 | ||||
25 | COETZEE George | RSA | 69 | 69 | 82 | 70 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | ELVIRA Nacho | ESP | 75 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | FISHER Ross | ENG | 68 | 72 | 73 | 77 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | HATTON Tyrrell | ENG | 75 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | PARATORE Renato | ITA | 71 | 73 | 73 | 73 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | RAMSAY Richie | SCO | 69 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
25 | WOOD Chris | ENG | 69 | 69 | 75 | 77 | 290 | 59,766 | ||||
32 | AIKEN Thomas | RSA | 70 | 74 | 77 | 70 | 291 | 51,273 | ||||
32 | BJERREGAARD Lucas | DEN | 72 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 291 | 51,273 | ||||
34 | HEBERT Benjamin | FRA | 74 | 73 | 75 | 70 | 292 | 47,184 | ||||
34 | JOHNSTON Andrew | ENG | 75 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 292 | 47,184 | ||||
34 | PIETERS Thomas | BEL | 76 | 73 | 70 | 73 | 292 | 47,184 | ||||
37 | COLSAERTS Nicolas | BEL | 74 | 72 | 76 | 71 | 293 | 44,038 | ||||
37 | KARLBERG Rikard | SWE | 71 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 293 | 44,038 | ||||
39 | APHIBARNRAT Kiradech | THA | 74 | 72 | 74 | 74 | 294 | 39,634 | ||||
39 | LARRAZÁBAL Pablo | ESP | 76 | 73 | 78 | 67 | 294 | 39,634 | ||||
39 | SCHWARTZEL Charl | RSA | 74 | 76 | 68 | 76 | 294 | 39,634 | ||||
39 | SIEM Marcel | GER | 74 | 73 | 73 | 74 | 294 | 39,634 | ||||
39 | SOUTHGATE Matthew | ENG | 72 | 68 | 82 | 72 | 294 | 39,634 | ||||
44 | HEND Scott | AUS | 71 | 71 | 73 | 80 | 295 | 33,343 | ||||
44 | HORSEY David | ENG | 71 | 73 | 81 | 70 | 295 | 33,343 | ||||
44 | JENSEN Lasse | DEN | 73 | 69 | 80 | 73 | 295 | 33,343 | ||||
44 | KAYMER Martin | GER | 81 | 75 | 69 | 70 | 295 | 33,343 | ||||
44 | LAGERGREN Joakim | SWE | 74 | 72 | 78 | 71 | 295 | 33,343 | ||||
49 | CARLSSON Johan | SWE | 73 | 77 | 75 | 71 | 296 | 27,681 | ||||
49 | DRYSDALE David | SCO | 76 | 75 | 76 | 69 | 296 | 27,681 | ||||
49 | LIPSKY David | USA | 72 | 75 | 72 | 77 | 296 | 27,681 | ||||
49 | PAISLEY Chris | ENG | 77 | 73 | 74 | 72 | 296 | 27,681 | ||||
53 | FRASER Marcus | AUS | 75 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 297 | 23,906 | ||||
53 | ILONEN Mikko | FIN | 74 | 75 | 76 | 72 | 297 | 23,906 | ||||
55 | CABRERA BELLO Rafa | ESP | 76 | 72 | 77 | 73 | 298 | 19,880 | ||||
55 | HARRINGTON Padraig | IRL | 76 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 298 | 19,880 | ||||
55 | MANASSERO Matteo | ITA | 73 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 298 | 19,880 | ||||
55 | OTAEGUI Adrian | ESP | 75 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 298 | 19,880 | ||||
55 | ROCK Robert | ENG | 74 | 73 | 78 | 73 | 298 | 19,880 | ||||
60 | GOOSEN Retief | RSA | 73 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 299 | 16,986 | ||||
60 | LEE Soomin | KOR | 75 | 72 | 79 | 73 | 299 | 16,986 | ||||
60 | WATTEL Romain | FRA | 74 | 78 | 74 | 73 | 299 | 16,986 | ||||
63 | OLESEN Thorbjørn | DEN | 77 | 69 | 81 | 74 | 301 | 15,728 | ||||
64 | LEVY Alexander | FRA | 77 | 75 | 78 | 72 | 302 | 14,470 | ||||
64 | MORRISON James | ENG | 77 | 71 | 79 | 75 | 302 | 14,470 | ||||
64 | WARREN Marc | SCO | 75 | 73 | 75 | 79 | 302 | 14,470 | ||||
67 | CAMPILLO Jorge | ESP | 79 | 77 | 80 | 71 | 307 | 12,897 | ||||
67 | QUESNE Julien | FRA | 70 | 80 | 83 | 74 | 307 | 12,897 | ||||
69 | STONE Brandon | RSA | 76 | 76 | 82 | 76 | 310 | 11,953 | ||||
70 | SLATTERY Lee | ENG | 77 | 78 | 81 | 78 | 314 | 11,324 | ||||
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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