European Tour resumes normal calendar with Nordea Masters in Sweden
The European Tour will resume its normal calendar from today at the Nordea Masters at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, Sweden, coming out of a whirlwind week of the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich.
The tournament will be featuring some of the finest players on the tour who will be joined by their fellow American players from the other side of the Atlantic, most of who have just finished their bid for the Open Championship.
Dustin Johnson, the runner-up at the Open and Bubba Watson are two of the highest ranked players in the event and will be hoping to make their stay worthwhile by winning the event here in Sweden.
The timings of the Nordea Masters, just after the third major of the season, always had an advantage over the other events on the tour as it has been able to lure in some of the high profile players from the Open field. Last year, Nordea Masters boosted
of a star-studded field comprising of the then Open champion Louis Oosthuizen.
Johnson has now soared to number seven in the world ranking after his strong finish in the Open while Watson is number 14 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
The 27-year-old American tee-ed off for his final 18 holes trailing the leader by one shot and stayed in contention throughout the final round. This was his third near-miss at the major championship in a span of one year and has perhaps been the most unfortunate
of players for the current year.
Johnson was also part of the field at Nordea Masters last year and posted a joint 19th while Watson will be making his debut here in Sweden.
The field is also strengthened by some of the top ranking players on the European circuit including Robert Karlsson, Henrik Stenson, Alex Noren and defending champion Richard S. Johnson.
Noren has done well in the current season, winning the Saab Wales Open last month, and is also quite familiar with Bro Hof.
“After winning the SAAB Wales Open, it will be awesome to play in Sweden and the Nordea Masters. Bro Hof is one of my favourite tracks, and always fun to play. It will be interesting to see how the changes of hole 17 affect the result,” said Noren.
Englishman James Morrison, who finished for joint eighth in last year’s installment of the Nordea Masters, will be returning to give it another try to make it all the way to the top. The 26-year-old Brit is currently at number 79th on the Race
to Dubai and is also the former winner of Madeira Islands Open. Top 60 on the Race to Dubai will be able to reserve a berth at the season-ending Dubai World Championship and Morrison will be hoping to make it through.
“I like it. It’s good because you haven’t got to shoot 65 to go forward ten spots. If you shoot under par you’re going to go forward quite a bit, so it’s a nice feeling to have to just go out there and play golf and know that level par will be a good score,”
said Morrison.
Bro Hof Slott Golf Club is one of the Robert Trent Jones Jr. designs located at a 45-minute drive from Stockholm. It’s a par-72, course with a yardage of 7,607 and is one of the longest courses on the European Tour. The winner will bag not only precious
points but will also collect a winner’s cheque of €250,000.
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