Sweden’s Noren excited for first Masters Tournament

Alex Noren summed up his first Masters Tournament invitation in two sentences.

“For the U.S. Open, the Open (Champion­ship) and PGA (Championship), people congratulate you for winning it,” the Swede said. “At the Masters, they congratulate you for being here.”

Noren, who began 2016 ranked 96th in the world golf rankings, finished the season at No. 9 to earn an automatic invitation to the 2017 Masters.

The invite led to congratulatory texts, emails and phone calls, but Noren is attempting to block the outside noise and hopes to have a strong showing at Augusta National Golf Club.

“It’s as magical as I’ve created it in my mind,” said Noren, 34. “But it’s also unbelievably tricky – especially around the greens. I know I’ll have to putt well in order to compete this week.”

Noren first played the course March 28 and quickly realized that watching on television doesn’t compare with being inside the ropes. He found the tee shots to be “fairly straightforward” but quickly admitted “the greens will take time to figure out.”

He’ll attempt to be the first Masters rookie to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

“I’ve never seen a course that requires as much strategy around the greens,” he said. “You have to have knowledge about where to put it depending on the different pin positions. I’ve never seen a place where you need quite as much preparation.”

Noren, a former Oklahoma State All-American, skipped the Houston Open last week in order to practice at Augusta National. In his most recent tournament – the Dell Technologies Match Play – he lost in the quarterfinals. Noren won his grouping and lost to eventual winner Dustin Johnson.

When asked what it would mean to be the first Swedish golfer to win the Masters, Noren paused then let out a deep breath. “That would be something else,” he said.

“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Noren admitted. “But very fast after that thought, I try to be realistic and tell myself I have a lot of work to do. This week, I’ll have to create shots under very difficult circumstances, and I understand that won’t be easy.”