Tournament: Danish Golf Championship
Race to Dubai: Tournament 33 of 44
Closing Swing: Tournament 5 of 5
Venue: Lübker Golf Resort, Nimtofte, Denmark
Prize Fund: US$2,500,000
Hashtag: #DanishGolf #DPWT
Rasmus Højgaard is excited to defend his Danish Golf Championship title this week as the tournament starts a new era on its tenth anniversary.
The 23-year-old made history last year as the first Danish winner of the event, formerly known as Made in HimmerLand, defeating Spaniard Nacho Elvira in a play-off which stretched to six holes.
Højgaard is one of a staggering 23 Danish players in the field at Lübker Golf Resort this week, with twin brother Nicolai hoping to emulate his success. Also teeing it up is 2018 Ryder Cup Captain and 15-time DP World Tour winner Thomas Bjørn, who holds the ambassadorial role of Tournament Chairman this week.
Rasmus will play the first two rounds alongside Germany’s Marcel Siem and Romain Langasque of France, while Nicolai will tee it up with Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin and compatriot Thorbjørn Olesen, who won his eighth DP World Tour title earlier this year at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
Also in the field is his namesake Jacob Skov Olesen, who became the first Danish winner of the Amateur Championship earlier this year. Skov Olesen is making his regular DP World Tour debut this week after appearing at The 152nd Open last month, where he made the cut.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, the current leader of the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings, is competing in his second Danish Golf Championship after making the cut at HimmerLand last year.
Player Quotes
Rasmus Højgaard: “It’s always fun to look back at what happened last year. It would be cool if I could recreate some of the stuff from last year.
“It does (feel different defending), but now we’re at a new course and a new event, it feels a bit different than it normally would. I feel like I’ve been handling it well so far, maybe the nerves will kick in tomorrow. But so far, so good.
“I’m really excited to get back out and play again. Four weeks at home is a long time. I rarely have that, so I’m really looking forward to getting going. All of us out here dream about playing with full crowds cheering us on. It’s always special to come back and play in Denmark.”
Nicolai Højgaard: “It’s one of the weeks I put an X in the calendar. I’m really looking forward to this week. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. Since we knew it was being played here at Lübker, which is close to home, we’ve been excited. Good to be here. Course is in good shape. Weather looks a bit dodgy, but we’re looking forward to it.
“It’s home. There’s good vibes if you play well. It’s magical and they can also lift you up if you’re not playing well. That’s what we are hoping for this week, if we’re a bit down we can get the crowd going and get some momentum, get some birdies and get some cheers out there.”
Thomas Bjørn: “It’s just followed the development of the professional game in our country. We used to be few and far between with results, and now it’s a constant production line of new players and we’ve had huge successes in the last few years. We’ve got enormous talent and very good players. The tournament is following suit. It grows, becomes better and better and now we’re taking it around the country and we’ll see how that goes. I’m looking forward to playing here and going close to Copenhagen next year will be interesting to see.
“The tournament is something to be proud of. It’s something we want to play in. Not one Danish player has missed playing in this event at any given stage, unless it’s been through injury. It’s something we stand together for and want to produce something good. We look forward to this week and we’re proud of the event.”
Thorbjørn Olesen: “Since this tournament came on the schedule it’s always been a great week for us, especially for us Danes coming back home to play. I think also for the other players it’s been a great tournament. There’s always a lot of people and the setup has always been really, really good.
“It’s always been a dream to win here. Rasmus last year was incredible and a great finish to see him doing it. I think we really needed it because we had been close and no Dane had won before Rasmus, it was great to see him do it last year.”
