British Am champ J.S. Olesen finishes T5 at DP World Tour's Danish Golf Championship
Jakob Skov Olesen (DP World Tour)
Jakob Skov Olesen knows what his name will look like on the TV leaderboard if he decides to play on the DP World Tour. His name is abbreviated as J.S. Olesen.
The 25-year-old Dane, playing in front of a supportive home crowd at the Danish Golf Championship, entered the final round in third place, played in the final group, and finished T5 after a 1-over round of 72 on Sunday.
"The crowd's been fantastic all week," said Olesen after firing his second-straight 66 on Saturday. "I've had pretty good support on all days, especially today."
But it's tough keeping a stretch of bogey-free golf, as Olesen had on Friday and Saturday, where his cards of 5-under 66 were both clean. After getting to 10-under on the championship with a birdie on the 5th hole, Olesen went bogey-double on the next two and knocked himself our of contention. In fairness, he righted the ship with back-to-back birdies early on the back nine, and will be much more pleased with his T5 finish than if he had let the round slide away completely.
An 8-under championship is impressive, and we will see him again at The Masters if he stays amateur long enough to take advantage of his likely invitation as British Amateur champion.
Frederic Lacroix passed everyone in the final group with a 6-under final round to win the title by four shots over Romain Langasque.
In July, Skov Olesen became the first Dane to win the British Amateur at Ballyliffin in Ireland. He earned an exemption into the Open Championship at Royal Troon later that month (and The Masters in 2025) and played well enough to make the cut and finish T60. (Low amateur honors went to Callum Scot of Scotland, who Olesen defeated in match play on his way to the Amateur title.)
SATURDAY'S STORY
This weekend, Olesen is in the spotlight again, and in his home country of Denmark, no less. At 9-under and just three shots back of fellow Dane Lucas Bjerregaard at the 54-hole mark, Olesen will get paired in the final group on Sunday. With two Danes contending for the title, the gallery is sure to be electric on Sunday at Lübker Golf Resort.
At Lübker Golf Resort on Saturday, the left-hander posted his second straight bogey-free round of 5-under 66.
Olesen, 25, once worked on the grounds crew at Royal Copenhagen before heading to the U.S. four years ago to play collegiate golf -- first at TCU and finishing up at Arkansas.
“I honestly sometimes really miss it,” he told the R&A at Royal Troon, as he explained how much more he understands the maintenance process, and how hard it is to maintain a course in championship condition. “I sometimes really miss just sitting on that fairway mower, listening to the radio and the early mornings.
At Royal Troon, Olesen showed his humility by offering to help the grounds crew maintain bunkers if he missed the cut. And his place in history wasn't lost on him.
“I’m really proud to be the first Danish winner,” he said. “I guess that’s something I’ll have forever, which is super cool.”
Olesen represented his country in last year’s Eisenhower Trophy world team championship and Team Europe at The Palmer Cup.