Last year, Whitnell was in poor form before his win, with the former Express driver failing to qualify in four of his previous five races and finishing 81st in another.
However, the 35-year-old from Colchester fired a brilliant 61 in the second round to win by three shots and he will be looking for a similar turn of fortunes at Vasatorps Golfklubb in Helsingborg.
“It’s a bit strange, to be honest,” said Whitnell, who has failed to qualify in four of his last six starts but finished 16th in the Porsche Singapore Classic.
“This is my first time defending a DP World Tour title, so it will be a great experience and I will cherish every second of it.
“It’s good to look back at wins. A lot of times you don’t play well, so you have to look back at times when you played well and swung well, and there are some good videos on YouTube.
“Last year I was six shots ahead at the weekend, which was pretty good, but it probably made it a little more difficult. I just stuck to my game plan and tried to take advantage of the moments and play my best.”
This week's tournament is the only one of its kind on the DP World Tour, with 78 men and 78 women from the Ladies European Tour gathering in Sweden to compete for a prize and a trophy.
Two years ago, local star Linn Grant won by nine strokes in Halmstad, becoming the first female champion on the DP World Tour.
“It's been a very exciting week,” said Grant, who missed the cut at the U.S. Open last week. “I've loved this week, it's been so fun to be out here, playing at home and in this format.”
“I had the weekend off so I had lots of energy. Last week was a different week, it was very tough. Coming here it felt easy and it’s always good to have that feeling going into a tournament.
“I got sick in the middle of the tournament last year, which was awful. But I do enjoy this week. It doesn't matter how I play, I just enjoy playing.”
