Vincent Norrman Player Profile And What's In The Bag

SWEDEN’S Vincent Norrman shot a closing 65 to win the Irish Open on a Sunday when Rory McIlroy found water four times on the final day.

After a run of 10 consecutive top 10s, McIlroy finished with a 74 to end the tournament in a tie for 16th place. He will hope that things improve at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth later this week.

World number two McIlroy was among several players to struggle as Norrman, 25, came from six behind to win by one at The K Club. McIlroy was sharing the lead on 13 under but found water at the seventh with his approach. He did the same again on 11 to drop a shot before making triple bogey at 16.

McIlroy famously fired a sensational three-wood second shot at the 16th to set up his only Irish Open triumph in 2016 and also eagled the hole in Friday's second round when he holed a 120-yard shot. However, the par five got its own back as he found water with successive fairway woods over the final two rounds.

To make matters worse on Sunday, McIlroy then hit his nine-iron fourth shot into the River Liffey and, after taking a second penalty drop, needed to hole a 20-footer to limit the damage to an eight.

But Norrman did not care about any of that. He said: "I'm just as starstruck as some of those fans out here seeing guys like Rory and Shane Lowry, and to be competing against them is so cool. To beat them is even cooler.

"It means everything to win. It was a long wait [for everyone to finish] but I'm super happy. I can't believe this happened. I'm over the moon. I was starting off a little so-so and I made two birdies and got a rain delay, had a coffee and then went out and flushed it.”

• Player Profile
• Last 10 Events
• Key Stats
• What's In The Bag

After starting the day tied for 21st, there was little suggestion Norrman was going to win as he started with six pars, but a three at the seventh started a run of seven birdies over his final 12 holes on a day that included a 90-minute weather delay as he moved into the clubhouse lead on 14 under par with the leading groups barely into their back nine.

New Zealand's Ryan Fox, Scotland's Grant Forrest and Australia's Min Woo Lee all faltered over the closing nine, and Germany's Hurly Long was left as the last challenger despite his successive bogeys on 13 and 14.

However, Long was unable to birdie the penultimate hole despite a wonderful escape from the trees and his long eagle putt at the last failed to drop as Norrman's victory was confirmed.

Long's second spot secured his tour card for 2024 with home player Lowry showing a return to form following his Ryder Cup selection as a closing 68 left him sharing third place on 12 under with Fox, Forrest and South Africa's Thriston Lawrence.

Norrman's only previous professional victory came in the US two months ago when he landed the Barbasol Championship, which is jointly sanctioned by both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Player Profile

Norrman was born in Stockholm on Christmas Eve 1997. As an amateur, he was part of the Swedish team that won the 2019 European Amateur Team Championship. He was also part of the winning International Team at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup at Bay Hill.

His last tournament as an amateur was the first edition of the Scandinavian Mixed in Sweden, where he finished tied 12th among the men. Norrman's highest amateur ranking was fourth in the world.

He turned professional in June 2021, became an affiliate member of the DP World Tour and was invited to play his first tournament as a professional at the BMW International Open in Munich, where he finished tied fifth and had a hole in one during the third round. Two weeks later, at the Cazoo Open at Celtic Manor, Norrman tied the first round lead with a 7-under-par score of 64 and finished the tournament tied 10th.

In November 2021, he finished tied second at the Korn Ferry Tour Final Stage of Q-School to secure a minimum of twelve starts for the 2022 season. In his rookie season, he finished tied third at the Simmons Bank Open and was second at the Rex Hospital Open. In August 2022, he qualified for the PGA Tour by finishing 23rd on the Korn Ferry Tour Final Eligibility Points Standing.

He won the Barbasol Championship in July in his 23rd start on the PGA Tour in an event that was co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour. He finished the 2022-23 regular season in 69th place in the FedEx Cup standings. He began the Irish Open in 158th place in the world rankings and in 42nd place in the Race to Dubai. His win at The K Club takes him to seventh in the Race to Dubai and 76th in the world rankings.

The Irish Open was just his 14th start on the DP World Tour, at nine of which he made the cut. He is a close friend of Swedish golfer Alex Noren.

Last 10 Events

Horizon Irish Open - 1st

FedEx St Jude Championship - T49th

Wyndham Championship - T58th

3M Open - T50th

Barracuda Championship - T25th

Barbasol Championship - 1st

Rocket Mortgage Classic - T24th

Travelers Championship - CUT

US Open - CUT

RBC Canadian Open - CUT

Key Stats

Driving Distance - 303.4 Yards

Driving Accuracy - 57.36%

Greens in Regulation - 69.07%

Sand Saves - 40.63%

Putts Per Round - 29.64

Scoring Average - 70.01

What's In Vincent Norrman's Golf Bag?

• Driver: Titleist TSR3 With 10° loft, Fitted With Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei White AV 65 TX Shaft
• 3-Wood: PING G430 MAX With 15° loft, With Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei White K 70 TX Shaft
• 5-Wood: PING G430 MAX With 18° loft, With Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei White K 80 TX Shaft
• Irons: Titleist 620 CB (4-Iron & 5-Iron) & Titleist 620 MB (6-Iron to Pitching Wedge), With True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW) Shafts
• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50°-10° F Grind, 54°-10° S Grind & 60°-10° S Grind), With True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Shafts
• Putter: TaylorMade Spider X
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1x