Fitzpatrick says he’s not favourite but relishes title defence

Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick hopes to spring another surprise with a successful defence of his Nordea Masters title in Malmo.

Fitzpatrick, 22, had missed the cut in three of his previous four events before last year’s victory and arrived in Sweden on the back of a tie for 47th in the bmwpga championship.

And although he comes into this week’s event after finishing 12th at Wentworth following a closing 66, a change of venue and the presence of home favourites Alex Noren and Henrik Stenson means Fitzpatrick is happy to accept the role of underdog.

After an eight-year absence, the Nordea Masters has returned to Stenson’s home club of Barseback, which Fitzpatrick only saw for the first time yesterday.

“I don’t think it brings any extra pressure [being defending champion],” Fitzpatrick, pictured, said. “People aren’t expecting me to win at the end of the day.

“People are expecting Alex Noren or Henrik Stenson to win, which is completely understandable. For me, as strange as it sounds, it just feels like a normal event. It’s on a different course so it has a different feeling, but it’s a great feeling knowing the trophy is technically still in your hands.

“I just need to go out there and hopefully hold on to it. I have to admit it’s pretty difficult to get a feel for it today with how windy it is. I like the layout, I love the holes in the trees. Obviously it’s a little more open down by the sea.”

Fitzpatrick felt he was “a million miles” ahead of schedule after his victory 12 months ago, but went on to make his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine and win the DP World Tour Championship in November.

“It gave me a ton of confidence,” the world No 40 added. “The big thing for me was that I hadn’t been playing very well in the lead-up to it and then all of a sudden, from not playing well to winning, it showed me how quickly the game can change.

“That gave me confidence for the rest of the season. If I was going to have a bad spell, I knew that it could turn any week, so it really helped me.”

Open champion Stenson will try to put home advantage to good use as he seeks to add his name to a list of champions which includes Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood, Adam Scott and Luke Donald. And Noren is seeking a third victory on home soil after capturing the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday thanks to a stunning closing round of 62.

Noren, who won at Bro Hoff Slott in 2011 and PGA Sweden National in 2015, said: “It’s good to be back and get my mind together after the hectic day at Wentworth on Sunday.

“This is a whole new week, new greens, different weather, different type of course so it wouldn’t be true to myself if I said that I was a favourite, but I feel positive.”