The Scandinavian Mixed has been a wonderful addition to both the DP World Tour and the Ladies European Tour, an event that has lived up to its name and provided a bit of everything – without so far having struck the balance that both operations would prefer to see.
Strictly speaking it's one win each, Jonathan Caldwell capturing the inaugural edition before Linn Grant produced a stunning display which will have inspired thousands of young girls hoping to follow her lead. Caldwell's win changed his life, but Grant's nine-shot demolition job might one day be recognised as having changed far more than that.
First came the stage, a tournament with men and women playing alongside each other for equal prize money, proof that golf has an advantage over so many sports in being able to create a level playing field. Then came the star. Grant was sensational, birdieing five of the first six holes on Sunday and never looking back.
Grant could laugh off such concerns and her semi-final run in the Bank of Hope Matchplay is very strong form, but I'd have ALEX NOREN as favourite and he's readily preferred this time.
It's not been a great year for the Ryder Cup hopeful, not on the PGA Tour at least, but whereas he was a 10/1 shot on the back of successive missed cuts this time last year, he returns having improved for 29th at Colonial and played all four rounds last week, so his very immediate form is a little stronger.
Prior to it, three of four missed cuts came only narrowly and he was a factor in the Texas Open on the eve of the Masters, and while his weak driving is exposed over there in the US, here at Ullna he might not be at a significant disadvantage for just about the first time all year.
That's a bonus, but the main argument for Noren is how well he's played on the DP World Tour post-pandemic shutdown. His first start back in Europe came in the 2021 Open, in which he missed the cut, but since then he's gone 27-12-15-30-2-2-5, persistently threatening to take his career tally to 11 wins and recently missing out on three big-money, big-name titles.
Kinhult's form across shorter layouts includes his win at Hillside, sixth at Valderrama and eighth at Muthaiga, and if the wind does pick up then his efforts at Le Golf National, Doha, Al Mouj, St Omer and The Renaissance all point towards his likely comfort, as well as that British Masters success.
He's been playing well lately, too, hitting his irons especially nicely, gaining strokes off the tee through accuracy rather than power, and demonstrating how dangerous he can be with the putter across four of his last five starts.
As mentioned, I like the fact he's among those to have featured to a degree in the Soudal Open, an event for which I selected him and where he might've placed but for an off week with the driver. I also like the solid nature of his overall profile, having been making cut after cut in generally deeper fields than this one.
Sullivan has a solid record in Sweden, recording finishes of 14th, eighth and 20th from only five starts, latterly charging home with rounds of 65, 66 and 65 after a slow start to the Scandinavian Invitation.
He's a winner at a Nicklaus-designed course under low-scoring conditions, one which played short and saw his main strengths, approach play and putting, power him to a runaway victory over some dangerous rivals (Adrian Otaegui, Rasmus Hojgaard, Wilco Nienaber, Min Woo Lee) as golf came out of the pandemic three years ago.
That's one of four wins and we know he's a class act at his best, once threatening the world's top 20 and making the 2016 Ryder Cup team, so I must confess I was pretty astonished at his price at what could be a perfect course and having shown some real signs of improvement lately.
Further support and information can be found at and .