The ideal tee shot on the finishing hole was a draw. It happens to be my natural shot, a shot that I know so well that I can hit in my sleep. But I wasn't sleeping, not even dreaming. I had a two shot lead over Bradley Dredge standing on the 18th tee of the 2009 Omega European Masters in the Swiss Alps. I've dreamt about winning too many times. It was now time to do it awake, in reality. Nobody was going to stop me!

One of my big dreams came true that day. My fight to reach my dreams began 23 years earlier at my home course Haninge GK in Sweden.
 

The putting green served as a natural kinder garden and it was located in the middle of two straight lines of oak trees. The green was narrow and long and gave us enough creativity to try the craziest shots when having chipping contests. The bet was always ice cream to the winner. We played golf all day. Our parents had to bring food out on the course because dinner wasn't our first priority; lowering our handicap was. We usually played together; sometimes we let our parents join up if we weren't enough kids around. I think the opportunity to play around and not being instructed by anyone gave us the complete joy and love for the game. We could not get enough of it.
 

My home course Haninge golf club was a great home for me but I needed to try my wings in bigger tournaments and against better competition. My parents had already been driving my brother around Sweden for a few years when he was playing so they were used to it. They had to drive a lot now. They loved it and they were great supporters. They never pushed me or told me how to play, just supporting by being there. 
 

I soon started to feel I could belong with the top players in the country in my age group. After that I won a few junior events and moved down to Klippan/Perstorp Golf High School in the south of Sweden. It felt huge to be recruited to the best golf school in Sweden and I certainly took advantage of the great facility. I wasn’t the best player at the school, but most importantly; I learnt how to practice a lot. I believe that there is no substitute to hard practice.
 

I was competing for the Swedish National Golf Team when I decided to travel overseas to Oklahoma, USA to get my bachelor degree but primarily to play college golf. I'd heard a lot about the college scene and felt curious to try it out and see if I was good enough. Oklahoma State University has always been one of the best college golf teams and the coach was well known for his competitiveness and toughness. I had no idea what I was going to get thrown at me over the next five years. I'm happy I had no clue because if I did, I don't know if I would've gone through with it. They were the toughest years ever in my life.

School took a lot of time and our coach put a lot of pressure on us to do well. But that pressure was nothing compared to what we had on us when competing for the school pride. We all learnt to cope with it and we got a lot stronger mentally. The experiences I got there I couldn't have gotten anywhere else and I'm very thankful for everything the coach and everybody else taught us at OSU.
 

During the college years, I kept competing for the Swedish National team and we won a bronze medal in the Men's Amateur World Cup in Puerto Rico in 2004 and I also won bronze for individual honors. That was a big turning point for me. I felt that I can compete and prevail against the best amateurs in the world and after that, the college tournaments felt easier. I never won a college event but came close a number of times.
 

In 2005 I decided to turn pro and that it was time to try my own wings. I suddenly had no coach or teammates who could back me up. It did me a lot of good. I immediately felt more relaxed when not having to think of anybody else. I played only for myself. I still had a golf coach named Patrik Nilsson from my home course Haninge GK but he didn't put much pressure on me. We had a great teamwork. I started playing better than ever before and finished 18th in the European Tour event Scandinavian Masters a week before turning pro. That was the second big boost for my confidence.

I just missed out on my European Tour card in the final stage of the qualifying school but got full exemption on the Challenge Tour for 2006. The near miss, 2 shots, in the qualifying school didn't affect me much. I was full of confidence and expectations going into the Challenge Tour season that started in Mexico just before Christmas.

A top-10 at my first event and a play-off loss in the next tournament loaded my confidence even more and the season continued great. 11 top-10's including a win at the Rolex Trophy in Geneva took me to a 3rd place in the final Order-of-Merit and I had a full tour card for the European Tour 2007. One major goal completed!

A year on the competitive Challenge Tour did a lot of good for me. My game was better than a year ago and I could now compete on the European Tour, or so I thought. The reality was something different. After missing the first 6 cuts in a row, I was left with a choice. Either going back to Challenge Tour to secure my card for the next season (2008) on the European Tour or improve quickly to keep my ET card through great play on the main tour. I went back to my college town and practiced harder than ever. After the intense training I came back to ET and started making cuts, earning money and moved up the rankings. I finished the year in 63rd place in the overall ranking and my card was secured.

2008 season was better with a final ranking position of 31st. 2009 turned out to be a great year with a final ranking of 25th and with a very important win for me in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

2010 was a year of the "search"; for the right coach, training philosophy and all other things concerning professional golf. 

The search resulted in an improved attitude and refined swing. 2011 has resulted in two victories, SAAB Wales Open and maybe the most important victory so far, Nordea Masters on home soil. Qualification to and play in all major tournaments except US Masters also boosted confidence. 

My strive for success and improvement continues and my big goal ahead is to compete for Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup.

Updated biography and statistics of Alex on the European Tour web page

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