Shock PGA Championship contender Alex Noren has opened up on the horrific injury that kept him out of golf for four months.
Noren, 42, burst into contention here at Quail Hollow on Saturday with a brilliant five-under par round that has left him three shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
The former Ryder Cup star incredibly birdied four of his final five holes, including two of this course’s intimidating last three, to force his way into the reckoning.
Even more impressive is that the Swede, who has never won a major championship or PGA Tour event, is only making his second start of the season after suffering a nasty hamstring injury in January.
Noren revealed he couldn’t run, jump or swing a golf club while he was recovering from a tear to a tendon in his hamstring on his right sit bone and, instead, spent his time coaching his daughter’s softball team.
Speaking to CBS’ Amanda Balionis after his magnificent round, he said: ‘It was a lot easier to have this break when I’m 42 than when I was younger.
Alex Noren opened up on the horrific injury that kept him out of golf for four months
Noren burst into contention at Quail Hollow on Saturday with a brilliant five-under par round
‘As soon as I kind of could play, I thought I was in sort of the same form I was in before I got injured. But I’m still extremely, not surprised, but fortunate to be in this position this early.
‘It was just one injury. Everybody thought it was two injuries. It was just my tendon in my hamstring on the sit bone.
‘It’s a bad injury but you can still live a quite normal life because you have two other tendons that support it.
‘But I couldn’t swing a club. I couldn’t jump or run. I could walk kind of slowly and live a normal life. I spent a lot of time with the family. It’s been quite nice.
‘The bad part of it is that it takes a long time to heal, and it was 90 per cent torn. So, I had that 10 per cent left to make it heal back so I didn’t have to have surgery.
‘If it was actually torn, I would not play right now. That was lucky but also bad at the same time.’
When asked about his brilliant final flourish on Saturday, he added: ‘On 17 and on 18, I hit two of the best shots this week, and that’s what you need to get close to those holes.’
