Alex Noren returned to the winner’s circle with a dramatic victory at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, securing his 11th DP World Tour title and his first since the 2018 Open de France.
The Swede, who previously triumphed at this event in 2016, started the final round one shot off the lead but quickly moved to the top of the leaderboard. He held his ground in a tense battle with Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard, while New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori produced a stunning late charge.
Kobori lit up the closing stretch with an eagle and four birdies in his final six holes to set the clubhouse target at 15-under-par. Noren responded in style, carding birdies at the 15th, 16th, and 17th to establish a two-shot cushion heading to the 18th.
A wayward tee shot on the last threatened to derail his bid, but despite dropping a stroke, Noren signed for 16-under-par to seal victory by one shot. Kobori and Højgaard finished tied for second, while Japan’s Keita Nakajima and England’s Andy Sullivan completed the top five on 13-under and 12-under respectively.
There was further drama as Rasmus Højgaard, Nicolai’s twin brother, secured the final automatic qualification spot for Europe’s Ryder Cup team with a tie for 13th at eight-under.
The tournament also raised £168,000 for its official charity, Guide Dogs. Betfred contributed £500 for every eagle and every drive onto the iconic 10th green, with Ben Schmidt’s hole-in-one at the 14th delivering a single £50,000 donation. Additional contributions came through fan activities at the PGA Village and simulator challenges.
Alex Noren said, “Extremely happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve played like this. I didn’t struggle the first two days but I made the most out of average play. The last two days, though, I felt like my game came together. To win here in Britain, where I love the courses and the people, makes it even more special.
I was a little tense coming down the last and made a mental mistake on my line off the tee, but I’m just happy I got the job done.”
Rasmus Højgaard said, “I don’t know what to feel right now. I was so stressed on the course today, telling my caddie I wasn’t sure I could do it. But that birdie on 15 calmed me a bit, and making par at the end means everything.
Playing Ryder Cup alongside my brother is our biggest dream. To qualify automatically is amazing.”
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group.
As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2025 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 26 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet, Nexo and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
