THE MODERATOR: All right, we'd like to welcome Alex Noren here to the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship. Alex, No. 17 in the world, highest ranked player in the field. It's been an eventful last couple months winning twice on the DP World Tour including the BMW PGA Championship and being a part of that winning European Ryder Cup team as a vice captain.
Just summarize the last couple months.
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, it was. It started probably in 3M in Minnesota. Started playing good. Got some good finishes there and Wyndham. Then like you said, the two wins. Yeah, it was just the whole game just got a little better. Worked on good stuff. Got a bit of momentum.
So it's how golf goes. I think it's not just happens, but it happens with confidence, with a little bit of momentum, and then good practice.
Q. I guess how satisfying is it to see kind of how you've come into form considering you were basically out from January through May with an injury there?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I mean, I got some help from being -- having some experience and having an injury before. Played a lot of years on TOUR. Didn't really -- I don't think it would've been as maybe easy or it would've been a lot harder when I was 25, 28 to come back.
But at the end of the day it's just golf or sport, so you and your team probably get a good formula how to do it and then just do it, keep at it, even though it feels tough at moments.
Yeah.
Q. And then you just got off your nine hole pro-am playing nine the front nine here at Black Desert. What are some of the things that stand out to you about the golf course?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I think it's an unbelievable place. First of all, I think it's an interesting course. The greens are very fast. Like they can be pretty firm I think. They're not soft right now with the early-morning round. Wedges were stopping, but longer irons were bumping.
I think when you tuck these pins it looks like it can be very tricky shots into the greens and around the greens. You got to keep the ball in play because the rough is probably the most penal rough you've ever seen with the rocks.
So I'm very excited to be here, yeah.
Q. I think you're 8th in the DP World Tour standings right now, so I know why you're here; you're trying to move up from your current position. How much carryover is it from just the great play you've had over there to bring it here? Can't be that much different. Is there carryover?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I mean, yeah, both tours are somewhat alike. I played over there more years than I have here, but here tends to be a little faster greens.
You know, and like I said I played most of my golf in the U.S., so it's not so much about where you play. You just got to have the game for those courses and for the events.
I think, yeah, it's -- but it obviously carries on, the confidence or the play and what sort of strategy you have with the practice, you know, and on the course.
So overall both tours carry over to each other, yeah.
Q. You probably could have made the European Ryder Cup team as well as you were playing. Curious if you were disappointed to not be there or somewhat maybe happy to not be there given the atmosphere and how difficult it was for the European players?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I think since I knew I was going to be a vice captain right after Wyndham I was in on some of the meetings, you know, trying to choose players. It's not my decision in the end, but Luke just wanted our input, and the input was pretty clear that I hadn't performed well enough by the deadline sort of. Then I played really well right around when they were going pick and then just after.
So I wasn't disappointed. I've been in the game for long enough to understand that you pick players based on the facts that you have at hand. I think he picked the right team, and I was maybe third in line after.
But it was cool because I also like -- you know, the older I get the more I like coaching or coaching my kids or helping out some young players. I got a nephew that's 16 that tries to become a pro.
So it was interesting to be on the sort of coaching side of things even though my role wasn't to coach the players, but maybe just an overall behind-the-scenes trying to get the team going.
Q. Didn't have a hankering to hit a few shots?
ALEX NOREN: No. As a player I can really understand what the players are going through. If they're playing well, you know, just lipping out a bunch of putts, you know, you just got to stay with it. Stay with it. Just small comments like that can help from maybe another player as well.
Q. How important is it for you to solidify that standing on the DP World Tour, top 10, to be in position to have your tour card for next year? Is that something you started the season with an intension of? Seems like you're obviously chasing that considering your schedule.
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, like I lost those four and a half months in the beginning of the year. I didn't -- I started somewhat good and then didn't play so good probably in like June, early July. Then I started played good after that.
So it was very much up in the air and the medical status you get is not as good as the top 100 out here or the top 10 there. So I hope to get those rankings from either top 100 here or top 10 there.
So it's very important. Then the elevated is a little bit of different things through world rankings, so I try to keep up all these three sort of rankings I try to keep up, yeah.
Q. Quick follow-up. Did something change or did you find something in your game in this July? Looks like that's when you started notching those Top 10s, T3 in Minnesota. Did you something click for you around then?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I mean, it's always -- I try to always work on sort of the same things. I try to see my coach a little bit more, a little bit more regularly. He's English and he has players on I think three different tours, so it's not so easy for him to go as much or for us to see each other as much as when I lived in Europe.
I made an effort to kind of try to see him more, and just with those regular visits we started working on maybe a more neutral swing or neutral in every part of the game and to kind of get a better baseline for probably more versatile game on the course.
So I changed quite a lot in how I practice. Not so much like the overall game on the course, but how I practice. And me, him, and my caddie, we're pretty tight. Also got some good help from my old putting coach in Sweden that I don't see that much either. He put me in the right direction as well.
Q. Being that -- knowing this is your first time here playing, how were you introduced to this course? What made you ultimately decide to come here and play?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I mean, I think first of all I wanted to play this event. I think it's a good tournament. It's good ranking points. And then also I learned a lot from last year. I took some time off in the fall and I think it's better for me to kind of keep up my tournament play and not have too much time to just practice.
I'm a bit more in game shape when I have a regular sort of schedule, so I was really excited to play here. Always liked sort of desert style and dry courses. I know it's not going to be windy here, but I thought it would be a little bit windier, and I like that sort of golf.
Q. Do the fairways challenge you? Did you run into any issues with the rocks at any point?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, today I ran into them. It's pretty tight some areas. You got to play well. I think, yeah, it's very demanding sort of around the greens. It's very slopey and you run off, but also like you say, around the fairways.
Sometimes I think you can play pretty conservatively as well. On a couple of the par-5s on the front nine, you know, you got to be very straight to take that on four days in a row. I think like the fifth or sixth hole, so it's an interesting course really.
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