Alex Noren triumphs at the Grove as McDowell fails to mount charge

Sweden’s Alex Noren held his nerve to claim a remarkable third European Tour title in his last eight events at the British Masters on Sunday.

Noren carded a final round of 69 at The Grove to finish 18 under par and two ahead of Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, with Lee Westwood a shot further back in third.

Graeme McDowell failed to mount the big charge needed to threaten Noren as he had to settle for a round of 68, a total of 13 under par and a share of fourth place.

It was a disappointing day for Shane Lowry who slipped a long way down the leaderboard with a three over par round of 74 which included two double bogeys. That left the Offalyman in a tie for 41st on five under par.

Three shots further back was Paul McGinley who also struggled to a round of 75.

At the other end of the leaderboard a more comfortable victory had looked on the cards when Noren led by four shots after seven holes, only for the world number 26 to bogey the seventh as playing partner Richard Bland holed from 50 feet for birdie.

Noren’s lead was down to a single shot when he bogeyed the 11th and he did superbly to save par on the next thanks to a brilliant recovery shot from the trees.

Wiesberger briefly joined Noren at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie on the par-five 15th, only for Noren to do likewise from a near-identical position in the group behind.

With Wiesberger unable to birdie the 18th, Noren knew all he needed was a par to win, but a superb pitch to two feet set up a birdie to cap off a brilliant run of form after victories in the Scottish Open and European Masters.

Westwood feels he let down good friend and Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke after failing to win any of his three matches as Europe suffered their heaviest defeat for 35 years at Hazeltine.

The 43-year-old then missed the cut in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, thanks largely to a second round of 82 at Kingsbarns, but a closing 67 was enough to secure his best result since finishing runner-up to Danny Willett in the Masters.

Bland, who was seeking a first European Tour title at the 395th attempt, dropped shots on the 16th and 17th and had to settle for a five-way tie for third alongside McDowell, Alexander Levy, Peter Hanson and Tommy Fleetwood.