World Number Two Henrik Stenson and his compatriot Jonas Blixt will this week lead the home challenge at the Nordea Masters, which for the first time will be played at PGA Sweden National.
The duo will head to Malmö in fine fettle, having both finished inside the top 20 in last week’s BMW PGA Championship.
Both men have come close to winning this week’s €1.5million tournament in the past, with Blixt finishing runner-up behind Mikko Ilonen 12 months ago and
Stenson losing out in a play-off to Australia’s Mark Hensby in 2005, one year after sharing second place with his fellow Swede Peter Hanson.
Stenson was granted Honorary Lifetime Membership of the PGA Sweden National at the start of the year, and so should feel right at home on the Lake Course this week.
He said: “It’s going to be a good week. It’s going to be the busiest week of my entire golf career, but it’s also going to be good fun so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Blixt is currently in a rich vein of form, having followed up his tied second finish in the Masters Tournament with a joint 16th finish at Wentworth Club last week.
The 30 year old is edging closer to securing a Ryder Cup debut at the Gleneagles Hotel in September, and will again hope to catch the eye of Europe’s Captain Paul McGinley with yet another notable performance.
He said: “It’s always fun to play golf when you’re in contention, so I hope I can play well again this week. I didn’t play the way I wanted over the weekend at Wentworth, but that’s golf. I’m going to work on some stuff that I need to on the range, and hopefully I can play a little better this week.
“It’s nice to play in your home country and see your old friends. I think I have around 25 friends and family coming, and all staying together in a house. I’ll be eating the food I grew up on and watch the TV shows I used to watch, so I’m really looking forward to the week.”
Runaway Race to Dubai leader Thomas Björn, who finished in a tie for fourth place in last year’s Nordea Masters, will hope to rebound from the disappointment of letting slip a five shot lead at Wentworth last week.
Despite finishing in a tie for fourth place behind Rory McIlroy, the great Dane still leads The Race to Dubai with season’s earnings of €1,470,194, and has virtually guaranteed himself a first appearance in The Ryder Cup for 12 years.
Defending champion Ilonen will be bidding for a third Nordea Masters title, having first triumphed in 2007 before repeating the feat last year.
Ilonen, who is currently 26th in The Race to Dubai, will be defending his title over a different course from the one he triumphed on last May, but the Finn remains hopeful of joining Colin Scotland’s Montgomerie and Englishman Lee Westwood in the exclusive club of players who have won the tournament three times.
Other notable names in the field include Robert Karlsson, who made his 500th European Tour appearance at Wentworth last week.
Karlsson will bid to become the seventh Swede to win the tournament, following Jesper Parnevik (1995 and 1998), Joakim Haeggman (1997), Peter Hanson (2008), Richard S Johnson (2010) and Alex Noren (2011).
PGA Sweden National becomes the seventh different course to host the tournament since the inaugural event in 1991. Designed by Kyle Phillips, the Lake Course measures 7,390 yards.
