Huginn and Muninn have return from their flight around the world with the news that betting websites back hometown boys Henrik Stenson and Alexander Noren to win the 2017 Nordea Masters at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Upplands-Bro, Stockholm Sweden. Understandable, given that Swedes have won this tournament more than any other nationality, though a Brit claims the last one.
Henrik Stenson +550
Stenson is not yet among those Swedes, though. The 2016 Open Championship winner finished second in 2005 – when it was known as the Scandinavian Masters by Carlsberg – after losing a playoff to Mark Hensby. Stenson has two top 5 and two top 10 finishes in 2017, but he also missed the cut in three straight starts. The Swede, however, returned to form with a tie for 3rd place at the BMW PGA Championship last week.
Alex Noren +705
Noren is a two-time Nordea Masters winner, nabbing the 2011 and 2015 editions. Much more recently, Noren won the aforementioned BMW PGA Championship with a margin of two strokes over Francesco Molinari. That was Noren’s first PGA Tour win of 2017 and 10th of his career. Additionally, Noren finished 10th in the Players Championship and tied for 5th at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play.
Lee Westwood +1815
Westwood is tied with Colin Montgomerie for most Nordea Masters wins with three (1996, 200, and 2010). Furthermore, the British golfer was a runner-up in 2001. Westwood has 23 European Tour wins but the last came in the 2014 Maybank Malaysian Open. Moreover, he has only one top 10 finish in the 2017 season, and tied for 14th in the BMW. Still, betting websites don’t rule out a fourth Nordea win for Westwood.
Matthew Fitzpatrick +2050
Fitz is the most recent winner of the Nordea Masters, defeating Lasse Jensen by three strokes last year. The Englishman won his third PGA Tour event at the 2016 DP World Tour Championship and tied for 5th in the 2017 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Unfortunately for him, there won’t be a sudden relocation of the Nordea Masters from Sweden to Dubai.
Thongchai Jaidee +4550
Jaidee was the first and so far only Thai golfer to win this tournament, which he did in 2014. Recently, he tied for 8th place at the Shenzhen International but finished T48 at the Volvo China Open and T54 at the BMW.
Mikko Ilonen +7550
The Finn is another two-time winner of this event, in 2007 and 2013. However, 2017 has not been his year, missing three cuts and finishing no better than T32 in eight tourneys. Ilonen’s last win on tour came in 2014 at the Volvo World Match Play Championship.
Chris Wood +2550
Wood epically failed in his defense of the BMW Championship, finishing tied for 49th after placing 4th at the China Open. Wood missed a number of putts from inside six feet in Wentworth and admitted that he had lost his confidence from shorter distances. Betting websites have not quite lost all confidence in him yet, though.
