Alex Noren

Noren didn't show any signs of his age last season, posting nine top-25s while finishing the fall strong with three such results over his last four events including a runner-up in Bermuda. His strength has always been a world class short-game, as evidenced by ranking inside the top-20 in strokes-gained around-the-green and putting. Noren's never been a great ball-striker, making it difficult for him to compete on longer courses, but he's still capable of contending on shorter venues and non-signature events.

After over $2.6 million in earnings during his first full season on the PGA Tour in 2016-2017, Noren quickly became thought of as "the next big Euro", but that didn't quite pan out in the years that followed. Noren failed to crack the $1 million mark the following his big season and it took a couple years to get back above the $2 million mark. This past season was much like the season prior, in other words, he seems to have leveled off below his peak of '16-'17. Noren is now north of 40, which means it's unlikely that he'll return to the heights of his first season on the PGA Tour. As such, he's not a good salary cap option this season.

It's not fair to say Noren came out of nowhere in 2020-21. After all, he made his presence known in 2018 when he earned more than $2.6 million. But after two down years it's safe to say that not many had him pegged for a finish in the top 40 on the FedEx list. Noren's season was a bit of grind, however, as he had no top-3s and just three top-10s. He built up his points by amassing 12 top-10s. That's a recipe for success, but without the high-end finishes, it's hard to show a lot of improvement off a year like this.

Noren had a better showing this past season after missing the playoffs in the 2018-19 campaign. The Swede played his best golf down the stretch, going T3-T9-T22-T8 before being elimiated at the BMW Championship. Noren ranked 40th in SG: Total and 27th in scoring average last season. It would not be surprising if his good finish fed into a fast start to the 2020-21 campaign.

Noren was one of the biggest disappointments of the 2018-19 season. In his first year as a member on the PGA Tour in the 2017-18 season, the Swede finished 43rd in the final FedExCup stnadings with three top-three finishes and 10 top-25s. Last year he went 18 starts on the PGA Tour without a single top-10 and just five top-25s. Noren is a 10-time European Tour winner, so of all those who were relegated to conditional status, he has the biggest upside considering his status in the OWGR and ability to get into the more prestigeous events.

Noren came to the PGA Tour last season via the European Tour and he arrived with a lot of hype. Though he failed to win on the PGA Tour last season, he lived up to that hype for the most part. Noren made the cut in 14 of 18 starts, posted 10 top-25s and three top-3 finishes. Noren is 36 years old, so he's not among the young crop that is taking over the PGA Tour, but he's still got plenty of years left to make a mark and if he continues to play like he did last season, it won't be long before he picks-up his first PGA Tour win. He comes with a hefty price tag this season, but Noren has the ability to make a significant improvement upon his number from last season. He'll have to win somewhere to do so, but he's certainly capable of doing that.

Noren missed only three cuts worldwide last season, but they came at the deep-field Masters, U.S. Open and Scottish Open. On the other hand, he captured the BMW PGA Championship, carded T6s at the Open Championship and the European Masters and a T10 at the Players Championship. Ranked 14th in the world, the Swede is fifth in the Race to Dubai. His 424 non-member FedEx Cup Points equaled Luke Donald, who was 107th on the points list. It seems reasonable for Noren to surpass last season's earnings significantly.