Callaway Staff player Alex Noren has been in fantastic form of late and this week secured his third European Tour victory since the start of summer at the British Masters.

The Swede started the rain-delayed final day with a three-shot lead and made the perfect start with birdies at his opening two holes. At this stage things looked like a mere formality until a little wobble around the turn – bogeys at the 8th and 11th holes – saw Noren’s lead reduced to a solitary stroke. With just four holes to go, Noren showed his class with two birdies over the closing stretch to win by two from Bernd Wiesberger in second place.

The win propels Noren inside the top 20 of the world golf rankings for the first time in his career; not bad for someone who ended the 2014 season down at 653rd!

What equipment did Noren use?

• Driver – Callaway XR 16 (8.5 degrees)
• Fairway wood – Callaway XR (3-wood)
• Hybrid – Callaway Apex (18 degrees)
• Irons – Callaway Apex Pro 16 (4-9)
• Wedges – Callaway Mack Daddy 2 (47, 52, 56 & 60)
• Putter – Odyssey Works

Across the other side of the pond all eyes were fixed on the Safeway Open. Tiger Woods’ imminent return to the game was pencilled in for last week’s PGA Tour event, but a late withdrawal by the former world number one left many wondering if he will ever return to his formidable best.

Whilst reflecting, think back to last year’s Safeway Open when wire-to-wire leader Brendan Steele fell apart down the closing stretch. It’s not often that you get the chance to make up for what went before, but the American birdied his final three holes en-route to a seven-under-par 65 in California. This left Steele one clear of overnight leader Patton Kizzire and gave him his second PGA Tour victory of his career.

What equipment did Steele use?

• Driver – TaylorMade M2 (9.5 degrees)
• Fairway wood – TaylorMade M2 (15 & 21 degrees)
• Irons – Wilson FG Tour 100 (4-PW)
• Wedges – Wilson FG Tour (50 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM5 (58 & 60)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron Futura

There’s no truer test of shot-making ability and imagination than links golf; one of the reasons so many top players choose to compete in the Scottish Open the week prior to The Open. From gale-force winds to devil-like pot bunkers, you’ll certainly know when you’re out on the links.

Sweden’s Alex Noren coped best with the conditions at Castle Stuart, a 14-under-par winning total giving him his fifth European Tour title. All four of Noren’s previous victories had come when he held the lead heading into the final round, a record which he maintained thanks to a closing two-under-par. An early birdie at the par-5 second calmed any Sunday jitters, before the 33-year-old fought off strong challenges from a congested leaderboard at the Inverness Links.

As alluded to previously, there’s no type of golf that examines so many parts of a player’s game more than links. For once, hitting the ball a country mile doesn’t necessarily give you an edge; it’s all about plotting your way through the valleys and mounds on the fairways, hitting the correct part of the severely undulating greens before holding your nerve on the slick carpets.

Noren did exactly that last week. The Callaway Golf staffer was third on Driving Accuracy, hitting 84% of the fairways over the four days, whilst being just 47th on Driving Distance at a measly 275 yards. It’s a method that all the players will be adhering to at Troon this week for the 145th Open Championship.

What equipment did Noren use?

• Driver – Callaway XR 16 driver (8.5 degrees)
• Fairway wood – Callaway XR 3-wood (15 degrees)
• Hybrid – Callaway Apex (18 degrees)
• Irons – Callaway Apex Pro (4-9)
• Wedges – Callaway Mack Daddy (47, 52, 56 and 60 degrees)
• Putter – Odyssey Works

The DP World Tour Championship in Dubai not only signalled the end of the European Tour season, but was also the final event of this year’s Race to Dubai. For those of you unaware, the Race to Dubai is the European Tour’s order of merit which rewards the most consistently good golfers throughout that season.

Heading into the event there were only two possible winners: Masters champion Danny Willett and Open Champion Henrik Stenson. Willett had held top spot in the Race to Dubai for much of 2016 following his Green Jacket back in April, but the inspiring form of Stenson – including his first Major title and a silver medal at the Olympics – saw the Swede leapfrog Willett with just a few events left to play.

The Englishman needed a good week – a top-five finish to be exact – to have any chance of ending 2016 top of the tree, but a disappointing week saw him finish runner-up for the second year running. On the other hand, a top 10 finish for the ice-cool Swede cemented his place as Europe’s most consistent golfer for the second time, having won the Race to Dubai once before in 2013.

A little mention must go to Alex Noren who had a breakthrough year to finish in the rankings. Noren was ranked at 653rd in the world just two years ago but four wins in 2016 has seen him gate-crash the world’s top 10.

There’s something all three of the above have in common – they’re Callaway Golf players. Coincidence? Probably not.

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