Alex Noren injury history: How Swedish golfer overcame hamstring tear to star at PGA Championship

Alex Noren had played in 184 PGA Tour events. and was gearing up to play in The Sentry in Maui. He was still looking for his first career win, and the Sentry normally was an event limited to past Tour winners. 

📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp

The event expanded its field, and Noren qualified based on his finish in last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs. While he was preparing for the early January event, the golfer said he felt a sharp pain in his backside. Noren said that he thought he had gotten shot, but really it was a hamstring injury. 

Here is more on Noren's injury and how he recovered in time for the 2025 PGA Championship. 

LIVE: PGA Championship updated golf scores, results, highlights

Alex Noren hamstring injury

Noren withdrew from The Sentry as a result of the injury. After undergoing an MRI, the results revealed that he had a tear in his hamstring.

While the news was bad, the prognosis actually ended up being better for the golfer. He had avoided a full tear, and instead had a 90% tear of his hamstring. The reason this was preferable is that a complete tear would have needed a full year-long recovery, and he would have missed the entire 2025 golf season. 

The 90% tear had an optimistic recovery timeline of four months. With it happening in late December, there was hope that he could return in time for the 2025 Masters. The recovery timeline proved a little too optimistic and Noren missed the first golf major of the year. After a month or two into his recovery, the golfer returned to the chipping and putting green. 

Noren didn't start hitting full shots until late April. He returned to the course officially at the 2025 Truist Championship, which began on May 5. Noren made it through the entire round and finished at 1-under, even though there was no cutline. In only his second event back, Noren took the course at Quail Hollow for the 2025 PGA Championship and went into the final day of the event in second place. 

MORE: Complete timeline of majors won by Rory McIlroy | Complete timeline of majors won by Scottie Scheffler

Has Alex Noren won a major?

No, Noren is still looking for his first win at a golf major.

The 42-year-old first competed in the 2008 The Open Championship, where he finished tied for 19th. Over the years, Noren's best finishes have been tied for ninth at the 2012 The Open Championship and tied for sixth at the 2017 The Open Championship.

More recently, he has struggled to make the cut line at golf majors, so the fact that he was still active and toward the top of the leaderboard after recovering from his hamstring injury was a huge accomplishment already. 

MORE: Complete timeline of majors won by Bryson DeChambeau 

Alex Noren OWGR

Noren is ranked as the 72nd-best golfer in the world, per the OWGR.