The Omega European Masters boiled down to a two-man race over the last six holes Sunday at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in majestic Switzerland.
It was Alex Noren head-to-head with Scott Hend, Swede vs. Aussie for the title.
Noren worked his way into a two-shot lead with four holes to play but couldn’t hold on.
At the short par-five 15th, he found the left rough with his drive, couldn’t reach the green in two and wound up with a par on an easy birdie hole. Hend made his birdie to cut Noren’s lead to one.
Noren lost the lead with a three-putt bogey at the par four 17th and the two would finish at 17-under par with a playoff on tap.
They returned to the 18th where Hend pulled his drive, it hit a tree and ended up just 100 yards from the tee box. Noren played a perfect fairway wood into the fairway. Hend hit a miracle second just to clear the hazard fronting the green and wound up just left of the green, in position to save par. Noren’s approach left him 25 feet under the hole and he ended it when he holed the putt for his second win of the season.
It was his sixth overall victory on the European Tour.
“I’ve never won coming from behind or won in a playoff on the European Tour, so that makes it more satisfying,” Noren said after the win.
