Tournament: Hainan Open
Venue: Sanya Luhuitou GC, Donghai Bay, Sanya, Hainan Island, China
Hashtag: #HainanOpen
Hainan Open preview
Lucas Bjerregaard believes his mental fortitude will be the key to success when he tees it up in the Hainan Open at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club in China this week.
The Dane, a two-time DP World Tour winner, has enjoyed a return to form during the 2024 campaign, recording four top ten finishes alongside a tied-second on home soil at the Danish Golf Championship in August.
Bjerregaard’s two victories on golf’s Global Tour came in 2017 and 2018, and in 2019 he made further headlines by defeating Tiger Woods in the quarter finals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
The 33-year-old has rekindled some of that form this term, and after a tied 12th finish in the D+D Real Czech Challenge last week, has shown encouraging signs once more as he looks forward to the first of back-to-back events in the Middle Kingdom.
“One of the reasons why I started to play better this year is because I’ve been able to manage my expectations a little bit,” he said.
“I’m trying to do the same here while I’m out in China, and focus on the things I can control.
“It has not been quite there the last few weeks but it’s getting close. There are things that I can definitely improve on this week.”
The Dane is currently ranked 22nd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and with the top 20 players gaining automatic promotion to the DP World Tour, all eyes are on the final three events on the Challenge Tour schedule.
Bjerregaard has been putting in the hard yards in practice during the week, and hopes it pays off when play gets under way on Thursday.
“My driving has not been as good as it was maybe a month ago and that’s the main thing,” he added. “That’s why I’ve been working extra hard at the range this week.
“Iron play is going to be the most important thing this week as the greens are tricky and controlling distance and hitting it into the right section of the green is going to be important.”
Bjerregaard is part of a strong field in China that includes five-time DP World Tour winner Alexander Levy and Road to Mallorca Number Three Joakim Lagergren.
Round one of the Hainan Open gets under way at 7:10am local time, with Bjerregaard teeing off alongside Frenchman Levy and England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson at 12:15pm (local time).
