Denmarkโs own golfing prodigal son Lucas Bjerregaardโisnโt just chasing a title at the Danish Golf Championship; heโs hunting down a comeback that would make Lazarus look like an underachiever.
The manโs been wandering in the wilderness of the Challenge Tour, but with a two-shot lead heading into the final round, it looks like heโs ready to part the Red Sea and reclaim his spot on the DP World Tour.
Bjerregaard hasnโt lifted a DP World Tour trophy since 2018, back when he took home the silverware at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Itโs been nearly six years, and letโs face it, thatโs a long time in the wilderness. Since losing his Tour card after the 2022 Race to Dubai, heโs been trying to claw his way back up, and if he can pull off the win here, itโll not only break that six-year drought but also secure him playing rights for the next two seasons. In other words, he wonโt have to go back to the golf equivalent of Triple-A baseball.
So, whatโs been the secret sauce this week? Patience, grit, and the ability to hit a golf ball as if it owes him money.
After play was suspended on Friday because the wind was strong enough to blow the hair off a bald man, Bjerregaard returned Saturday to wrap up his second round at Lรผbker Golf Resort.
He calmly navigated the remaining ten holes to finish at seven under par, holding a two-stroke lead.
Then, in the third round, he opened with a birdie on the first hole, parred his way through the front nine, and then lit up the back nine with four birdies in five holes. By the time he finished, heโd carded a five-under 66, pushing his total to 12 under par.
Lucas Bjerregaard:ย โA bogey free round is never bad, especially with that finish we have out here. Very happy. I played solid, had a bit of a stretch mid-round where I had some good up and downs to keep the round going and got on a bit of a birdie run at the start of the back nine, so that was nice.
โI think Iโve been in a different position this year than Iโve been used to. I donโt have very good status on the Challenge Tour, so Iโve been playing on invites, top tens and so on.
I havenโt been able to plan very much, so itโs been one day at a time, one tournament at a time. Thatโs whatโs been working well for me and Iโll try and do that again tomorrow.โ
Not too far behind is Franceโs Romain Langasque, whoโs looking to add another DP World Tour title to his rรฉsumรฉ.
Langasque posted a second straight 66, rolling in six birdies to get to ten under par.
The Frenchmanโs been here beforeโhe snagged the 2020 ISPS HANDA Wales Openโbut heโll need to summon something special to reel in Bjerregaard.
And letโs not forget about Jacob Skov Olesen, the 25-year-old Danish amateur whoโs out here playing like heโs got nothing to lose.
The guyโs been bogey-free for his last 43 holesโyes, you read that rightโand heโs lurking just one shot back of Langasque at nine under par.
Olesen already made history this summer as the first Dane to win the Amateur Championship, and if he can pull off the unthinkable on Sunday, heโll be the first amateur to win on the DP World Tour since Shane Lowry did it at the 2009 Irish Open. Not bad for a guy who still doesnโt have to shave every day.
So, as we head into the final round of the Danish Golf Championship, all eyes are on Bjerregaard.
Will he seal the deal and punch his ticket back to the big leagues, or will Langasque or Olesen spoil the homecoming party?
One thingโs for sureโitโs going to be a Sunday worth watching.
Scores after Round Three:
201 L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 70 65 66,ย
ย 203 R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 66 66,ย
ย 204 J OLESEN (AM) (DEN) 72 66 66,ย
ย 205 J AXELSEN (DEN) 70 71 64, A WILSON (ENG) 69 69 67, F LACROIX (FRA) 67 71 67,ย
ย 206 S JONES (NZL) 67 73 66, M SIMONSEN (DEN) 69 70 67, K REITAN (NOR) 71 66 69, A SADDIER (FRA) 68 69 69,ย
ย 207 N NORGAARD (DEN) 71 69 67, M EGE (NOR) 69 71 67, T AIKEN (RSA) 68 71 68, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 74 69 64, S SHARMA (IND) 69 69 69, R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 71 66 70,ย
ย 208 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 70 68, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 74 67 67, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 73 68 67, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 71 70 67, T CLEMENTS (ENG) 70 69 69, D RAVETTO (FRA) 70 69 69, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 74 64 70, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 68 70 70,ย
ย 209 J BERRY (ENG) 71 69 69, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 70 70 69, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 70 69, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 71 71 67, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 69 70 70, O BEKKER (RSA) 70 72 67, J DEAN (ENG) 68 70 71, Y PAUL (GER) 70 73 66,ย
ย 210 J SENEKAL (RSA) 70 70 70, L NEMECZ (AUT) 70 70 70, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 72 68 70, J PARRY (ENG) 68 72 70, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 67 70, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 72 68, O WILSON (ENG) 71 71 68, J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 74 68 68, B ROBINSON THOMPSON (ENG) 68 70 72, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 70 67 73, J GUERRIER (FRA) 69 68 73,ย
ย 211 S KANG (KOR) 70 70 71, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 72 70 69, J DE BRUYN (GER) 67 71 73, T OLESEN (DEN) 74 69 68, D HORSEY (ENG) 68 70 73,ย
ย 212 D WHITNELL (ENG) 73 68 71, J WALTERS (RSA) 69 70 73, A PAVAN (ITA) 70 72 70, J BLIXT (SWE) 71 72 69,ย
ย 213 U COUSSAUD (FRA) 77 64 72, B RUSCH (SUI) 71 71 71,ย
ย 214 K BROBERG (SWE) 71 69 74, M WARREN (SCO) 73 68 73, J FAHRBRING (SWE) 73 70 71, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 65 72 77, L SCALISE (ITA) 72 71 71, M QUIROS (ESP) 77 66 71, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 74 69 71,ย
ย 215 G FORREST (SCO) 70 70 75, J THYSTED (DEN) 71 68 76, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 68 74 73, D BRADBURY (ENG) 73 70 72, M SIEM (GER) 73 70 72,ย
ย 216 R WILLIAMS (RSA) 69 72 75, T SHADBOLT (ENG) 73 70 73, S HUTSBY (ENG) 72 71 73, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 71 72 73,ย
ย 221 K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 70 70 81,ย
ย 222 L RUUSKA (FIN) 75 68 79,ย
ย **
ย 144 R FISHER (ENG) 74 70, T LEWIS (ENG) 74 70, N WATNEY (USA) 76 68, J GUMBERG (USA) 74 70, I CANTERO (ESP) 72 72, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 70 74, T BJ?RN (DEN) 71 73, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 71 73, S MANLEY (WAL) 74 70, C BRING (DEN) 72 72, M BESARD (BEL) 71 73, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 74 70,ย
ย 145 W ENEFER (ENG) 75 70, J DANTORP (SWE) 72 73, D BROWN (ENG) 71 74, D YOUNG (SCO) 73 72, T HUMPHREY (USA) 70 75, O HUNDEB?LL (DEN) 75 70, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 72 73, C JARVIS (RSA) 74 71, J GIRRBACH (SUI) 69 76, M SCHWAB (AUT) 72 73, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 73 72,ย
ย 146 A OTAEGUI (ESP) 73 73, P LAUNER BAEK (DEN) 71 75, A WU (CHN) 72 74, D LAW (SCO) 71 75, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 72 74, M BALDWIN (ENG) 73 73, C HANNA (USA) 71 75, T TREE (ENG) 75 71, F SCHOTT (GER) 77 69, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 73 73, R MANSELL (ENG) 70 76, G CHEN (CHN) 70 76, P WARING (ENG) 74 72,ย
ย 147 S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 68 79, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 76 71, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 74 73, D FRITTELLI (RSA) 76 71, R ENOCH (WAL) 72 75, M PENGE (ENG) 69 78, B STONE (RSA) 72 75, A ARNAUS (ESP) 73 74, S TARRIO (ESP) 73 74,ย
ย 148 J HARDING (RSA) 76 72, A COCKERILL (CAN) 74 74, F CELLI (ITA) 80 68, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 73 75, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 74 74, G HURLEY (IRL) 72 76, H BARRON (AUS) 72 76, M MADSEN (DEN) 69 79, N ELVIRA (ESP) 76 72, R GOUVEIA (POR) 72 76, J NICHOLAS (USA) 72 76, S FORSSTR?M (SWE) 74 74, B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM) 76 72,ย
ย 149 H LONG (GER) 72 77, M ELVIRA (ESP) 72 77, N GALLETTI (USA) 74 75,ย
ย 150 S GARCIA (ESP) 75 75, J ANDERSEN (DEN) 76 74, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 78,ย
ย 151 N BACHEM (GER) 76 75, J MORRISON (ENG) 77 74, A MARTIN (AUS) 76 75,ย
ย 152 L VACARISAS (ESP) 77 75, D GERMISHUYS (RSA) 74 78, G BOYD (ENG) 78 74,ย
ย 153 O CHOUHAN (IND) 76 77,ย
ย 154 P MOOLMAN (RSA) 73 81, P KATICH (GER) 74 80,ย
ย 157 D MOSTERT (RSA) 77 80, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 81 76, H BROWN (DEN) 71 86,ย
ย **
ย OUT D GAVINS (ENG) 71 RT, J PRINSLOO (RSA) 79 RT, S GALLACHER (SCO) 74 RT, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 72 RT, A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 70 DQ, S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 75 WD, J DONALDSON (WAL) 74 RT, O STRYDOM (RSA) 75 WD,ย
