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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2017

Alex Noren

Surrey, England

BRIONY CARLYON: Congratulations, we have Alex Noren here, winner of the 2017 BMW PGA Championship. Alex, it was a remarkable day for you, a course record in the process, 62. You've now had nine European Tour wins and the first of our Rolex Series, the inaugural winner here. Tell us how you're feeling at the moment.

ALEX NOREN: It feels very amazing and very crazy, because I had no intention of trying to win this morning. You know, I didn't even think about it, and I came off the course quite angry yesterday of playing a good round, 2-under, and then kind of chipping into the water from the back of the green on 18.

So it's a great feeling now, but it feels unreal, yeah.

BRIONY CARLYON: Obviously we've seen now with the rain, we've had four seasons across the last four days, really, on the golf course. The new changes, how did you think that helped you with your victory this week?

ALEX NOREN: Well, I mean, it was three days -- or for me, it was four days of perfect weather, one with quite windy -- one windy day. But I think the changes are great.

I mean, now you have a chance to set up the course the way you want; if you want high rough or if you want softer greens, harder greens, whatever you want, and I think that's fantastic in a golf course.

I like the golf course before. I've played it three different ways now, and I've always enjoyed it, because I think this whole week is very special I think for the whole tour and for all the players. I think all the players see it as an amazing tournament overall here.

Q. At what point did you think, hey, I might win this?
ALEX NOREN: Well, I thought after the birdie on 12, I thought, you know, it was going very well. You always try to get in that zone that everybody talks about, when you've got some adrenaline mixed with focus, and that's what I tried to get into. And after the birdie there, you start forgetting about this and that; that feels wrong. You just need to get it done today. That's no tomorrow, kind of feeling. Whatever way works.

I think after that birdie, I felt really confident going into 13 and 14, and I mean, the weather helped me because right after I finished, it started raining a bit. But the weather was fantastic today, and it's quite nice to come out on a day like this. You have so much kind of positive energy about the golf course, coming off a very windy and difficult day yesterday.

So you see the course a lot easier than maybe it is, because you had that tough day yesterday. So I think that's why you got a lot of low scores today.

Q. Your third win in the U.K. How do you explain that great form? Why do you love playing here so much?
ALEX NOREN: Well, I said out there, that I've always liked British golf courses. It's fantastic; you've got great links, you've got great parkland, and I've always liked this course. The crowd is always cheering for I think all the players. You guys like great golf. It doesn't matter who it comes from.

For some reason, I've always had a lot of support from the English. I felt that compared to maybe other places, yeah, or the British.

Q. The experience that those behind you had, to begin with, they were making a lot of birdies and then suddenly you set the target and they struggled to match. It have you been in that situation yourself and understand how those pressures sort of rise up?
ALEX NOREN: I don't think I have been in that situation, but I think it can be a bit frustrating. You know, you get a guy playing early, don't think he has a chance to win, and all of a sudden he posts a good score, like you say.

You know, you play three great days and all of a sudden it's a little bit harder to make the putts maybe. Well, I've been in -- well, it's quite similar when you feel like you hit a lot of good shot s at a tournament, and you don't hole the putts and today for me it was totally different. I holed so many putts, and then you get, you know, so much confidence on the greens and everything feels -- seems possible all of a sudden, and maybe some other days, it's the opposite.

So I think it's a tricky situation I think when somebody comes up behind, yeah.

Q. Are you generally a leaderboard watcher, like on the 18th hole, did you know what that putt was for? You said that you were -- you were -- your hands were shaking, I believe, and did you know if it was for the course record or what or where you were at?
ALEX NOREN: I usually watch the leaderboard very closely. But on the last green, I tried not to watch it, because I -- well, I think it's good. I've always liked watching the leaderboard. You can play conservatively if you need to or aggressively if you need to but on the last green for some reason, I didn't want to watch it. I just wanted to get that putt in the hole, and come off the course 11-under. And then I was leading by two at the moment, and I thought somebody could catch me at 11 maybe; they had to play a good back nine to get to 12.

Q. You've now become a really prolific winner on The European Tour. No one's winning more regularly than you are over the last year. So what do you feel this means for you going into events like the majors, and what do you need to do to suddenly be contending in those, do you think?
ALEX NOREN: Well, I think this tournament in my mind compares a lot with a major. You know, the only thing I've tried to do is to -- what I wanted to do is play better against a better field and better courses, tougher courses. And I view this as a very difficult course against a very tough field.

So then this is very close to a major in my mind. So my confidence goes up. It's just work towards your goals and trying to kind of improve on my weaknesses and improve on my strengths, and trying to figure out where I'm losing shots, where I'm gaining shots.

But overall, a win like this brings your confidence up, and that's what I've always needed, to believe in myself, and then it's easier to focus on what you need to do.

Q. This is a remarkable score. I think I'm right in saying it's three strokes better than anybody else in the field. Do you have form for extraordinarily low rounds like this?
ALEX NOREN: Well, I've always thought -- when I was younger, I posted I posted some low rounds, but I also posted some very high rounds. I feel kind of, not nervous -- I feel a lot more nervous when I'm shooting high than when I'm shooting low and I think some players maybe feel the opposite and they don't maybe care when they shoot high. But I've always cared when I shoot high and not care as much when I shoot low. So that's maybe the reason why I feel like I have an easier time, you know what I mean.

Q. Can you remember if you've ever been 10-under on a proper golf course before?
ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I shot 10-under in Portugal. And Leithan Links (ph) when I'm 18. Leithan Links, I beat Mark McNulty, at least.

Q. Those two periods you had out of play in 2014 and 2015, could you say how frustrating and how low they were, and how your feeling -- could you have expected to come back so strongly?
ALEX NOREN: I had good periods before in 2009. 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and a little bit like stretches here and there. But I never had a good game off the tee. So I was always quite worried, you know, where the ball was heading off the tee, and I couldn't really play really difficult golf courses well.

That's what I worked the hardest on to get the ball somehow on the fairway a bit more often. I think that gives me a little bit more calmness, and then I can train on the whole game and not just worrying about that I'm going to send a few out-of-bounds every round.

When I was injured, I always knew I was coming back to some sort of form. But maybe it made me think a little bit more to train a little bit smarter, a little bit better, yeah.

Q. Big week obviously, first event of the Rolex Series. What's your opinion of what it's going to do to keep younger players like yourself and young stars in Europe?
ALEX NOREN: Well, I think a lot of Europeans love Europe. We love playing here. The only -- if you're comparing with the American tour, the only thing been missing is like big events like this.

I think they are in the right direction, and I think a lot of American players view this tournament as an extremely good tournament. I think we have these tournaments coming up are very good tournaments, so I'm seeing the future looking very bright. I would love to play these big events all the time, yeah.

Q. Can you just talk through what was going through your head on 18 when you were there on the fairway looking down to the green? Were you thinking about getting down in two from there?
ALEX NOREN: Well, you know, sometimes the yardage is very good and you like the yardage, and you like the hole where the wind is, how the lie is and stuff, and everything about the shot was very nice in my mind. I hit it kind of long, straight over the green yesterday in a really bad lie. Today I had a good yardage. I knew a 5-iron would carry the front and I couldn't hit it over the green, even if I tried. That kind of gives you a lot of confidence in a shot.

So when I stood over the ball, I knew if I just catch it pretty good and don't hook it, I'll be all right. Then it came off really nice and straight at the flag, but when you get all the numbers right and the wind is right, it gives you a lot of confidence, and you have a very clear picture in your mind what you want to do, yeah. But it was still very nervous, yeah.

Q. Did you check the yardage?
ALEX NOREN: I had 225 to the pin kind of, 230 to the pin. But I needed only to bounce it about 210, yeah. Pitched it 210.

BRIONY CARLYON: Congratulations, Alex, on your victory.

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