BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 15, 2026

Alex Noren

Wentworth Golf Club

Press Conference

CLARE BODEL: Alex, welcome back to the BMW PGA Championship. Obviously an event you've had great success at, most notably last year. I wonder if you could tell us the memories of last year and how it feels to be a two-time winner of this event.

ALEX NOREN: Great memories. Obviously I love coming to England and UK, playing golf here. I love all the courses here. I just think the crowds are great. The tournament is great. It's just a lovely place to play golf. Maybe that attribute contributes to some good play for me at this event.

CLARE BODEL: You're feeling good this season. You're ready to go for a third?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, I had a pretty good season over in America. I'd like to play some more here now in the off-season. Had three weeks off, so I tried to see the kids a lot and maybe haven't got as many rounds in as I usually do. For every day now when you're back, you feel better and better.

Q. Were you at Adare Manor?

ALEX NOREN: Yes.

Q. Is that a target now? You were obviously a vice captain last time. Do you want to be involved as a player in 12 months time again?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, when I was there yesterday, it hits you how like amazing Ryder Cup is, and I thought the venue was spectacular. I've never seen a place like it.

To have a year to see if I can improve in all areas of the game and be part of that team would be amazing, and it was very -- firstly, I thought it was smart of Luke to gather all the players there. Second, it made it kind of even more sort of like a goal for everybody, I think.

Some players obviously know they will be there, but for everybody else, it was a really tempting goal just to see the place and then imagine it in one year.

Q. Also, in Rome and France DP World Tour events have been played in the buildup to Ryder Cups. This is different. Is that going to be a bigger challenge for European players to get to know this golf course a bit better?

ALEX NOREN: I spoke to Garland and the other officials, and the strategy around setting up the course is very different from when they have a lot of data from the Tour.

Yeah, it's a very difficult task to set that up, I think, to our advantage. We'll see how they do. It's the course and the resources where you can set it up pretty much however you want, like you can grow in the rough, you can expand, and you can use tee boxes. It's like not particularly a blank sheet of paper, but you can do whatever you want preparation-wise.

Q. I don't know if you know Anna Nordqvist, maybe you're going to tell me you don't know her at all. I'm hoping you do.

ALEX NOREN: I know her a little bit. My caddie caddied for her six years, three years, quite a lot.

Q. Just the achievement in winning that Solheim Cup. Obviously she's retired, and she bowed out on a pretty big high, hasn't she?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, that's a pretty good retirement to quit just three weeks before. Obviously three weeks before, and then to do that, that's amazing.

It's cool that we've had how many captains from Sweden on the Solheim? There's quite a few, I think. We need to do that on the men's side to improve to be available as captains, yeah.

Q. The PGA TOUR has announced a few more details about the Championship Series which is coming up. I just wondered we don't know yet how many cards this Tour will get to get onto this series. As someone who's got onto the PGA TOUR through this Tour, what number of cards do you think is suitable to get from here to the Championship Series?

ALEX NOREN: I don't really know exactly how that's going to be worked out, but I think we have a good structure. This Tour is going to be very, very strong at certain months of the year, and PGA TOUR is going to be super strong certain months.

I'm hoping for a more global schedule, so you have time to be global and you have time for America. I don't know exactly what I believe in the number of cards, but I like it this week to see a lot of Americans coming over here as well. I've always advocated for a more global schedule for everybody.

That's what I'm hoping for, and therefore all tournaments will grow. So this week feels huge. You play a lot of events in Europe that are already very big, and I think they're just going to grow. The competition of a global schedule, I think, will improve all tournaments.

Q. That being said, could you see a situation where you would skip a champions event, championship event in the U.S. to play on a DP World Tour event?

ALEX NOREN: The goal is, I think, to kind of separate the Championship Series and the biggest European Tour events, if I understood it right. The easiest way to kind of have flexible schedule is to play really well.

So if I do play well, I have bigger flexibility. If I don't, you'll stick with one Tour first and then make sure you're done there and then go on to the next. So there's some factors involved.

Q. Just to clarify so I get it right, if you're playing great, you could see it happening. If you're not playing great, the likelihood isn't as good?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, that's what I've had the last few years. I've wanted to play more here, but I'm living over there in America right now. So I'm trying to play as many as I can over here, but unfortunately, if you're not Rory McIlroy, if you don't have Rory's game, it's not as easy.

Q. How difficult is it going to be for you to get on a Ryder Cup team again? Is it going to be almost a decade after you played on the winning team?

ALEX NOREN: Yes.

Q. Is it going to be harder for you, or do you feel your game is still the best to come?

ALEX NOREN: I'm hoping for the best to come. Some stuff comes in between. You have family, you have maybe other hobbies, but as long as -- I have to work a little harder on my physical side. Before, I could just train and wake up the next day feeling pretty good. Now it's a little bit more work.

If I'm organised, I can do it, I think, but it's not my strong suit to be organised. I think I have to improve on that side. If that's so, I think you can play pretty good golf until you're in the 50s. I'm hoping my best is to come, yeah.