Whilst the golfing public may have been taken by surprise by Kristoffer Broberg’s meteoric rise, one man has known for some time that his latent talent would soon surface.
That man is none other than Alex Noren who, like Broberg, also graduated from the Challenge Tour – if not in quite such startling fashion as his younger compatriot.
In 2006, Noren finished third in the Challenge Tour Rankings thanks chiefly to his victory at the Rolex Trophy – the very same tournament which, six years later, put the seal on Broberg’s meteoric rise to the top tier.
Like his close friend, Broberg is now a fully-fledged Member of The European Tour after winning three times in five appearances on the Challenge Tour this season, so securing promotion in double-quick time.
At this week’s Omega European Masters, the 26 year old will bid to follow in the footsteps of Noren, who won his debut European Tour title at Crans-sur-Sierre in 2009.
Both men are attached to Haninge GK, in their native Stockholm, and given what he has witnessed on the practice range there, it would come as little surprise to Noren if Broberg were to enhance his burgeoning reputation in Crans Montana this week.
Noren said: “Kristoffer deserves to take his place on the Tour because he’s been playing unbelievably well. I’ve known him for a long time because we’re attached to the same course, and he practises so hard – probably twice as much as I do! When I heard about his third victory I went straight into the gym, because I can’t let him beat me so I need to work really hard.
“If he keeps going the way he’s playing, I’m sure he’ll win on the Tour. He’s shown he can do it easily on the Challenge Tour, and that’s a tough Tour to win on, believe me. This is the perfect course for him, because he hits it very straight and is very accurate with his wedges, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him up there again this week.”
