Well, well, well, if it isn’t Rasmus Højgaard making a splash at the Danish Golf Championship!
The young lad decided to open his title defence with a casual six-under-par 65, as if leading a tournament by two strokes on home soil is just another day at the office.
Last year, he made history as the first Dane to win this event, and it seems he’s in no hurry to let go of that crown.
Our 23-year-old hero didn’t just roll out of bed and decide to be great. No, he started his round at Lübker Golf Resort with a bang – five birdies and an eagle – just to remind everyone who’s boss.
This isn’t just about retaining a title for young Højgaard; he’s got his sights set on something bigger, like earning a PGA TOUR card and joining his twin brother Nicolai in that exclusive club of players who can say, “Yeah, we’re both on the TOUR. No big deal.”
After a brief hiatus following The 152nd Open, where one might have expected him to relax, maybe catch up on Netflix, Højgaard instead returned to the course with the kind of hunger that makes you wonder if he’s ever heard of taking it easy.
Starting his round on the tenth hole, Højgaard wasted no time, going three-under after six holes.
Then, just to keep things interesting, he casually eagled the first hole by dropping a five-iron to within six feet – no sweat.
He wrapped up his round with a birdie, a bogey, and another birdie, signing off with a 65, and leaving the rest of the field to wonder if they’d ever catch him.
Rasmus Højgaard: “I’m very pleased with it. It wasn’t easy out there, but I managed to keep the ball in play for most of the round and I holed some good putts.
“(Eagle on the first) I hit a little too aggressive tee shot there, it was a bit further left than I wanted it to go.
But it’s quite wide on that hole. Hit a five iron in, to be fair, I wasn’t too happy about it. I felt like I left it right but the wind moved it back into the green and it was a good six-foot straight putt.
“I really enjoy it (playing at home). The support was quite good for a Thursday morning. But I always enjoy playing at home.
I’m looking forward to going home, having a nice dinner and sleeping in my own bed tonight.
“I’m just going to try and keep the ball in play. There’s going to be some good chances out there, but mostly keeping the high numbers away from the scorecard.”
And let’s not forget the supporting cast – Germany’s Jannik de Bruyn, New Zealand’s Sam Jones, and Frenchman Frederic Lacroix – who each shot four-under-par 67s.
They took advantage of the morning’s friendly weather before the skies opened up in the afternoon, with rain putting a damper on anyone’s hopes of low scores.
As for the rest of the leaderboard, eight players are tied at three-under-par, including Spain’s Ryder Cup veteran Rafa Cabrera Bello, England’s Joe Dean, and Denmark’s own Søren Broholt Lind.
But let’s be honest, right now, this tournament is all about Rasmus Højgaard and whether he can keep the magic going to claim yet another title in the Danish Golf Championship.
Scores after Round One:
65 R HOJGAARD (DEN),
67 F LACROIX (FRA), J DE BRUYN (GER), S JONES (NZL),
68 D HORSEY (ENG), S BROHOLT LIND (DEN), T AIKEN (RSA), C BLOMSTRAND (SWE), J DEAN (ENG), B ROBINSON THOMPSON (ENG), A SADDIER (FRA), R CABRERA BELLO (ESP), J PARRY (ENG),
69 S SHARMA (IND), P FIGUEIREDO (POR), M EGE (NOR), M PENGE (ENG), J WALTERS (RSA), M MADSEN (DEN), M SIMONSEN (DEN), J GUERRIER (FRA), J GIRRBACH (SUI), R WILLIAMS (RSA), A WILSON (ENG),
70 G FORREST (SCO), D RAVETTO (FRA), T CLEMENTS (ENG), F LAPORTA (ITA), J WINTHER (DEN), A JOHNSTON (ENG), J AXELSEN (DEN), T HUMPHREY (USA), K APHIBARNRAT (THA), M KAWAMURA (JPN), Y PAUL (GER), L NEMECZ (AUT), O BEKKER (RSA), A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP), B WIESBERGER (AUT), R MANSELL (ENG), J SENEKAL (RSA), G CHEN (CHN), L BJERREGAARD (DEN), E PEPPERELL (ENG), S KANG (KOR), A PAVAN (ITA),
71 J SCRIVENER (AUS), D GAVINS (ENG), R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN), P LAUNER BAEK (DEN), D LAW (SCO), K BROBERG (SWE), D BROWN (ENG), C HANNA (USA), O WILSON (ENG), K REITAN (NOR), B RUSCH (SUI), H BROWN (DEN), T BJ?RN (DEN), R LANGASQUE (FRA), M SCHNEIDER (GER), N NORGAARD (DEN), J BERRY (ENG), J BLIXT (SWE), J THYSTED (DEN), M BESARD (BEL), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA), D MICHELUZZI (AUS),
72 R ENOCH (WAL), A WU (CHN), J DANTORP (SWE), G PORTEOUS (ENG), M ARMITAGE (ENG), I CANTERO (ESP), G HURLEY (IRL), N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER), H BARRON (AUS), H LONG (GER), M SOUTHGATE (ENG), B STONE (RSA), M SCHWAB (AUT), M ELVIRA (ESP), R GOUVEIA (POR), J NICHOLAS (USA), J OLESEN (AM) (DEN), C BRING (DEN), S HUTSBY (ENG), L SCALISE (ITA), R PARATORE (ITA), M ROTTLUFF (GER),
73 J CAMPILLO (ESP), N H?JGAARD (DEN), J FAHRBRING (SWE), A OTAEGUI (ESP), D WHITNELL (ENG), T SHADBOLT (ENG), C SHINKWIN (ENG), M BALDWIN (ENG), D BRADBURY (ENG), D YOUNG (SCO), P MOOLMAN (RSA), M WARREN (SCO), N KRISTENSEN (DEN), M SIEM (GER), A ARNAUS (ESP), S TARRIO (ESP), J DAVIDSON (WAL),
74 A COCKERILL (CAN), R FISHER (ENG), T LEWIS (ENG), S KJELDSEN (DEN), K JOHANNESSEN (NOR), T MCKIBBIN (NIR), T OLESEN (DEN), D GERMISHUYS (RSA), J GUMBERG (USA), S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN), P KATICH (GER), C JARVIS (RSA), S GALLACHER (SCO), A SULLIVAN (ENG), S MANLEY (WAL), J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN), S FORSSTR?M (SWE), J DONALDSON (WAL), P WARING (ENG), E KOFSTAD (NOR), J RUTHERFORD (ENG), N GALLETTI (USA),
75 W ENEFER (ENG), L RUUSKA (FIN), T TREE (ENG), S GARCIA (ESP), O HUNDEB?LL (DEN), S BAIRSTOW (ENG), O STRYDOM (RSA),
76 J HARDING (RSA), N BACHEM (GER), N WATNEY (USA), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), D FRITTELLI (RSA), A MARTIN (AUS), O CHOUHAN (IND), N ELVIRA (ESP), J ANDERSEN (DEN), B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM),
77 L VACARISAS (ESP), U COUSSAUD (FRA), J MORRISON (ENG), D MOSTERT (RSA), F SCHOTT (GER), M QUIROS (ESP),
78 G BOYD (ENG),
79 J PRINSLOO (RSA),
80 F CELLI (ITA),
81 J MOSCATEL (ESP),
