Few players were in better form heading into the Ryder Cup than Alex Noren, with the Swede winning twice on the DP World Tour before heading to Bethpage Black.
Of course, Alex Noren did not play at the Ryder Cup. He was announced as one of Luke Donald‘s vice-captains. Some felt Noren would have played had Donald had the option to make a late change following his victory at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
That win looks set to ensure that Noren will have the opportunity to play on the PGA Tour next year through the DP World Tour. That looks particularly important as the 43-year-old went into the Bank of Utah Championship outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup.
Despite having that security, Noren is in the field at the Black Desert Resort.
Alex Noren springs a surprise with his schedule during the FedEx Cup Fall
And it seems that he has much loftier goals than simply securing his PGA Tour card for 2026, as Rex Hoggard explained on the Golf Channel Podcast as he discussed some of the biggest storylines over the Fall.
“Alex Noren is a guy who stands out to me. He’s 111th on the list right now and you and I spoke about this this morning, you pointed out correctly he’s going to finish inside that top 10 category from the DP World Tour, so this isn’t necessarily about his job. Also, keep in mind, he missed a good portion of the season so he would have some sort of status on a medical issue, because of a hip issue he was dealing with. But when I spoke with him at the Ryder Cup – he was one of Luke Donald’s brilliant vice-captains – and I sort of in passing asked him, ‘are you going to play any in the fall?’ And his response to me shocked me a little bit,” he said.
“He said, ‘I’m playing everything in the fall’. And I was like, ‘what do you mean?’ There were European Tour starts – most European Tour players play that both the PGA Tour and across the pond, they essentially use this time of year to get their minimum, make sure their numbers are good so they can maintain that status. You have the post-season coming up for the DP World Tour as well. He pointed out that he really wants to try and get inside that top 51 to 60 which essentially gets you in to those first two signature events next year. He has seen it now. There is a body of work. We know what it means to be on the outside of that number, and be on the inside of that number.
“He does have a bit of a get out of jail free card early in the season, because he’s right now inside the top 30 in the world rankings, so that would give him access. But I think every little bit when it comes to a player like Alex Noren, who plays a lot, he’s going to play a lot, he hits a lot, you just want to go out and give yourself as many opportunities as possible.”
The curious career of Alex Noren as the Swede looks to improve a disappointing major record
Noren has had such an interesting career to date. He has won 12 times on the DP World Tour, while he was a part of the European team that won the Ryder Cup in 2018. Noren beat Bryson DeChambeau in the Sunday singles at Le Golf National.
However, he has never quite been able to take that form stateside. The closest he has come to a victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open when he lost out in a playoff.
He does have 27 top 10 finishes along the way across his career.
Worryingly, Noren has missed nearly half of his cuts in the majors. In fact, in 15 appearances at The Masters and the US Open, he has made the weekend on just four occasions.
But he is a top 20 player in the world now. If he can stave off any injuries, perhaps 2026 could prove to be a big year.
He certainly seems determined to build up as much momentum as possible in what remains of 2025.
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