BMW PGA day four: Ewen Ferguson makes an 'a*** of it' as in-form Alex Noren wins again

Bidding to join Colin Montgomerie, Andrew Oldcorn and Scott Drummond on the event’s roll of honour, Ferguson was six under for the day and two shots off the lead as he stood on the 18th tee on the iconic West Course at the Surrey venue.

An eagle to finish at the par 5 could have given the Scot a chance of landing his fourth DP World Tour title only to carve his drive into the trees on the right and have to settle for a 6 after being forced to take a penalty drop.

As it turned out, Ferguson would have needed an albatross 2 to get into a play-off, which Noren won at the first extra hole to land this title for a second time, but, nonetheless, he was disappointed to end up in a share of fifth spot when he had a win in his sights.

“To be honest, I always struggle with my driver in the rain,” said the 29-year-old of the later starters facing pretty miserable conditions for most of the back nine in the $8 million Rolex Series event.

“I’d worked on it a lot to try and manage it and was hitting it really well. I’d changed my angle of attack so that it was not squirting. On the last hole every day, I’d teed it down and squirted a fade around the corner and that’s what I was trying to do. But it was just awful. I wish I’d stuck to the normal shot. I made a bit of an a*** of it.”

Ferguson’s closing 67, which contained seven birdies, came in the company of Patrick Reed, who birdied the last to pip him by a shot, and Matthew Fitzpatrick, who finished alongside the Dubai-based Scot on 15 under par.

“I felt like I’d held my own all day - at times, I felt like I played better than tnem - playing alongside two major champions and I will take a lot from that,” added Ferguson, who picked up a cheque for £262,000 and jumped 16 spots up to 37th in the Race to Dubai Rankings.

“A big goal of mine was to do better in the Rolex Series events and I have done that. I put myself up there in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic then did well again here. I literally just want to go to the range and start practising to get better.”

After signing off with a 68 to finish on 19 under, Noren birdied the first extra hole to beat Frenchman Adrien Saddier, repeating his 2017 victory in the event. It was the 43-year-old’s second win in three events after also winning the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo for a second time.

In between his triumphs, Noren was announced as Luke Donald’s vice captain for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and, if it hadn’t been for him missing a chunk of the season due to a hip injury, he’d almost certainly have had a playing role instead on Long Island.

Noren, though, reckons Donald has the right 12 players at his disposal as the Englishman bids to land Europe’s first win on US soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012 and, at the same time, become just the second captain after Tony Jacklin to win both home and away against the Americans.

“I think the other guys have played better than me throughout the year,” insisted the former Genesis Scottish Open champion. “I have put in a great result now and the last month, but a bit too late. The guys on the team will be fantastic. I am really looking forward to that match.”

Noren’s 12th DP World Tour title triumph saw him become Sweden’s most-successful player in DP World Tour history, nudging ahead of both Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson. “I never, never thought I would do that growing up,” he admitted, smiling. “Yeah, when you say it, it feels quite big. I'm extremely, extremely happy and proud I kind of dug deep many times and it's a long career. I hopefully have some good more years in me.”

According to Sky Sports Golf, Noren, who played down a brilliant up and down from a plugged lie in a greenside bunker at the par-3 14th to save par, is also now second behind Rory McIlroy as the most-prolific winner on the circuit since 2009. “That sounds very good, too,” he added with an even bigger smile.

Connor Syme signed off with a 69 for a ten-under total to finish joint-31st - his best performance since landing a maiden win in the KLM Open in June. “It was much better,” said the Drumoig-based player of his week’s work, having missed the cut in four out of five events coming into this one.

“I’m really annoyed that I didn’t birdie the last, but, overall, it was more like it,” added Syme. “It is definitely a step in the right direction. Wee things to tidy up on, but it’s nice when you’ve got the four rounds to work on it.”

Richie Ramsay admits finishing position ‘effing hurts’

After being close to the halfway lead and looking to kick-start his season after missing five straight cuts, Richie Ramsay was disappointed that two bogeys in the last three holes left him having to settle for a share of 38th position on nine under.

“It effing hurts,” admitted the four-time tour winner. “I made a good swing on the last but the water on the clubface has made it spin out a little bit and I had to take a drop, costing me a 6. I actually played quite nicely, but just made some bogeys coming in from not awful positions.”