Wall to face Noren in Paul Lawrie Match Play final

England's Anthony Wall will take on Alex Noren of Sweden in the final at Archerfield

Anthony Wall will face Alex Noren in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play
Anthony Wall will face Alex Noren in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play
(Image credit: Getty Images)

England’s Anthony Wall will take on Sweden’s Alex Noren in the final of the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play at Archerfield tomorrow.

With strong winds predicted for East Lothian tomorrow, Anthony Wall and Alex Noren look set to face a battle against the elements as well as each other when they tee it up in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play at 11.05 on Sunday morning.

Sweden’s Alex Noren is looking to make it two European Tour wins on Scottish soil in 2016 after he claimed the Scottish Open title at Castle Stuart in July.

The Swede defeated his compatriot Johan Carlsson 4&2 in the morning’s quarter-finals of the Paul Lawrie Match Play before seeing off England’s James Morrison 3&2 in the afternoon.

“It feels amazing. I've never even been close in a match play event before, and it's pretty hard mentally playing these matches, but I like it,” he said.

“It would be pretty special to win again in Scotland. I don’t know what it is about the place – I love playing links courses and this week we have had great weather so far. I know the forecast is for the wind to really blow tomorrow but that doesn’t really bother me – I would rather it was really windy than really wet.”

Alex Noren putting tips video:

Wall has played in 431 events on the European Tour since his last victory in South Africa, back in 2000 - The Alfred Dunhill Championship. Now 41, he produced some great golf to get past Haydn Porteous in the morning’s quarter final and then fellow Englishman Oli Fisher in the semis.

Wall chipped in for an eagle on the home hole to seal the match with South Africa’s Porteous, before coming through a tough encounter with Fisher on the 22nd hole.

“Obviously I feel sorry for Oli, because it was a good game so it's a shame someone had to lose because we're good pals and we played well,” said Wall. “It’s been a brilliant week and I would love to win this tomorrow. I've very much enjoyed Archerfield as a whole. The course is great and we've been made to feel incredibly welcome by everyone here... Alex is the man in form, so it will be a great game. I'm looking forward to it.”

Quarter-Finals results

Oliver Fisher (ENG) bt Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 3 & 2 Anthony Wall (ENG) bt Haydn Porteous (RSA) 2 UP Alex Noren (SWE) bt Johan Carlsson (SWE) 4 & 2 James Morrison (ENG) bt Alejandro Cañizares (ESP) 4 & 2

Semi-finals results

Alex Noren (SWE) bt James Morrison (ENG) 3 & 2 Anthony Wall (ENG) bt Oliver Fisher (ENG) 22nd hole

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?