STOCKHOLM, July 24, 2011 (AFP) - Sweden's Alexander Noren claimed his third European Tour title on Sunday with a comprehensive seven-shot victory in the Scandinavian Masters.
The 29-year-old, who set a course record 63 on Saturday, carded a closing 77 for a 15 under par total of 273 at Bro Hof Slott.
England’s Richard Finch was the only man to break par in strong winds, his three under 69 good enough for second place while another Swede, invite Niklas Lemke, was third on five under par.
"I said it doesn't matter how I play up to that, I just have to survive 17 (a par three with an island green) and I did," said Noren, who won the Wales Open title earlier this year.
"I've never seen wind like this in Sweden. Every hole was super tough and even downwind it was hard to choose the clubs."
Noren, who started the day 11 shots ahead, birdied the first hole but then had five bogeys and a double bogey at the 14th. A birdie at the last hole helped him enjoy the moment of victory.
Victory took Noren into the top 70 in the world and the top ten on The Race to Dubai.
Leading and selected final round scores in the Scandinavian Masters at the BroHoff Slott Golf Club on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72; a denotes amateur):
273 - Alexander Noren (SWE) 67-66-63-77
280 - Richard Finch 69-72-70-69
283 - Niklas Lemke (SWE) 68-72-70-73
284 - Scott Hend (AUS) 69-70-71-74, Pablo Martin (ESP) 69-72-69-74
285 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 70-71-69-75, Dustin Johnson (USA) 73-71-67-74, Noh Seung-yul (KOR) 73-68-69-75, Bubba Watson (USA) 71-67-69-78
286 - John Parry 68-73-70-75, Jamie Donaldson 73-70-67-76, Tano Goya (ARG) 71-70-70-75
287 - Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 67-71-70-79, Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 72-72-71-72, Scott Jamieson 73-71-67-76
288 - Anthony Wall 69-70-72-77, Jeppe Huldahl (DEN) 73-68-70-77, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 69-70-72-77, Thomas Norret (DEN) 72-71-69-76, Damien McGrane 72-70-70-76
289 - Romain Wattel (FRA) 72-71-72-74, Scott Strange (AUS) 71-71-68-79, Anders Sjostrand (SWE) 70-73-69-77
290 - Robert Karlsson (Swe-a) 67-75-70-78, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 73-69-66-82, Michael Jonzon (SWE) 73-71-70-76, Florian Fritsch (GER) 74-69-69-78
Selected:
291 - Jeong Jin (KOR) 74-65-75-77
293 - Scott Pinckney (USA) 73-72-70-78
294 - James Kingston (RSA) 75-70-69-80, Shiv Kapur (IND) 70-66-78-80
300 - Marcus Fraser (AUS) 71-74-70-85