Alex Noren in Contention for First Major at PGA Championship

Alex Noren, after a lengthy injury layoff, is in contention for his first major title at the PGA Championship, trailing leader Scottie Scheffler by three strokes.

Alex Noren is in contention for his first major title at the PGA Championship after a strong showing on Saturday. The 42-year-old Swede had been sidelined with a tendon injury since last October but made a remarkable comeback, carding a five-under-par 66. Noren birdied the last two holes to put himself in a strong position heading into the final round.

Alex Noren is in strong contention for his first major title, standing at eight-under 205 after 54 holes at the PGA Championship. He's three strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler, with whom he'll play in the final group on Sunday. “It feels good. I got it together,” Noren said, reflecting on his comeback from a prolonged injury layoff. “Time off gave some good perspective, but I wish I would have played more golf leading up to this than I have,” he added, having been sidelined since last October with tailbone and tendon issues.

“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,” Noren said.

“I could walk slowly and live a normal life. I could coach my kids. Spent a lot of time with the family. It has been quite nice. But I couldn't swing a club. I couldn't jump or run.”

Before last week, 42-year-old Alex Noren had been sidelined with injury for 31 weeks.

In his second start back, the Swede currently holds the co-lead at the PGA Championship. pic.twitter.com/D3VtAPbwl3

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2025

Alex Noren faced a lengthy recovery after suffering a tendon injury, but he managed to avoid surgery. “The bad part of it is that it takes a long time to heal and it was 90% torn. So I had that 10% left to make it heal back so I didn't have to have surgery,” he explained. Noren added, “If it was actually torn, I would not play right now. That was lucky but also bad at the same time,” highlighting the challenges of his rehabilitation.

Noren considers himself fortunate to have recovered in time for the PGA Championship, but acknowledges the limited preparation time. “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,” he said. Noren added, “But I'm still extremely - not surprised, but I'm fortunate to be in this position this early,” highlighting the challenges of returning from injury and the unexpected nature of his current strong performance.

Alex Noren, a 10-time European Tour winner, is chasing his first major title after a strong start to the PGA Championship. His previous best major finish was a tie for sixth at the 2017 British Open. Noren believes his recent break may have given him a new perspective, potentially extending his career. “Maybe. I got some good perspective, like spending that much time in the middle of a career, hopefully I'll play a lot longer,” he said, reflecting on the mental benefits of his time off.