Noren aiming to add to French memories

GOLF: Ryder Cup star defends title this week at Le Golf National

Ryder Cup star Alex Noren returns to the scene of two of the most memorable moments of his career as he targets a successful title defence in the Amundi Open de France.

Noren trailed by seven shots heading into the final round last year, but a closing 67 in difficult conditions proved enough for the Swede to win his 10th European Tour title.

Three months later Noren again found himself on the 18th green at Le Golf National with the celebrations of Europe’s Ryder Cup victory already well under way, before holing a lengthy birdie putt to beat Bryson DeChambeau and set the seal on the seven-point win.

“That was amazing, maybe the best moment of my golfing career,” Noren said. “I know the whole match was over but my game was still going and the coaches and the captains told us to keep going until the end of every match and it just felt great to finish like that.”

Speaking about his French Open victory, the 37-year-old added: “It was an amazing week. I think I just made the cut and then I had a great weekend.

“I didn’t think I was even going to get in the play-off with the score I had, I thought I had to make a long putt on the last. I just missed it but then it was really tough coming in for guys. Winning – I felt very fortunate.”

Noren has failed to record a top-10 finish in 22 tournaments this season but was 15th in the Dunhill Links Championship recently and believes there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“It feels a little better, I’ve played decent the last few weeks,” he added. “I haven’t had the season I want to but it’s definitely getting better and it’s going in the right direction.

“A win would be very nice but I’ve just got to play as hard as I can.”

Noren, who reached a career-high of eighth in the world after winning the 2017 BMW PGA Championship, has slipped to 53rd but is still the highest-ranked player in a field which features just five other players in the top 100. There are six Scots in the field – Scott Jamieson, Richie Ramsay, Marc Warren, Stephen Gallacher, David Law and Liam Johnston.

The tournament is no longer part of the European Tour’s lucrative Rolex Series and has seen its prize fund fall from £5.46 million to £1.38m, while also moving from June to mid October.

Phil Mickelson will contest the CJ Cup in South Korea this week admitting he does not deserve a wild card for the Presidents Cup in December.

Mickelson has made 24 consecutive appearances in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, qualifying automatically 20 times and last failed to make such a team in 1993.

However, since winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, Mickelson has recorded just one top-20 finish on the PGA Tour and has slipped to 47th in the world.

Asked about receiving one of the four wild cards US captain Tiger Woods has available for the match with Ernie Els’ International team, Mickelson told a press conference ahead of the CJ Cup: “No, no, no. I have not played well in the last seven, eight months.

“There are much better options of players that have played consistently at a high level that deserve to be on the team and I have not...even if I were to win (this week), I have not done enough to warrant a pick.”

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