Home hero Rasmus Højgaard made a stunning start to his title defence as an opening 65 saw him hold a two-shot lead after day one of the 2024 Danish Golf Championship.
From an Irish point of view, West Waterford’s Gary Hurley was on the charge after four birdies in his first six holes saw him turn in 33 only for four bogeys in a row from the 13th saw him fall out of early contention and towards the cut line on one-over with a 72.
Højgaard made history last summer as he became the first Danish winner of this event, prevailing after a six-hole play-off against Nacho Elvira at HimmerLand.
The tournament has moved to Lübker Golf Resort for this year’s edition as it celebrates 10 years on the DP World Tour schedule, but the change of venue has not put Højgaard off his stride as he stormed to the top of the leaderboard.
Starting from the tenth tee, Højgaard made three birdies on his front nine on Thursday morning before adding an exceptional eagle, two more birdies and a single bogey after the turn to reach six under par.
With wet and windy conditions making things difficult for the afternoon starters, no-one was able to catch Højgaard at the top, with Frederic LaCroix, Jannik de Bruyn and Sam Jones his nearest challengers on four under.
Four-time DP World Tour winner Højgaard kicked off his round with a close-range birdie at the tenth before picking up another shot from a similar distance on the 12th.
He then took advantage of the par-three 15th, tapping in after sending his tee-shot about a foot from the hole.
After producing a lengthy par save on the 17th to keep his card clean, Højgaard made an extraordinary eagle at the first to jump to five under.
Following a run of five pars, he curled in a ten-foot birdie putt on the seventh but gave the shot straight back with his first bogey of the day at the eighth.
Højgaard finished his round with a flourish, managing to get up and down from the thick grass next to a bunker for a closing birdie.
He said: “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 rolled some good putts.”
When asked about playing on home soil, Højgaard added: “I really enjoy it. I thought the support was quite good for a Thursday morning.
“I always enjoy playing at home. I’m looking forward to going home, having a nice dinner and sleeping in my own bed tonight.”
Tom McKibbin had little to cheer about in Prague last week and he had even less on Thursday as he slipped to a three-over-par round of 74.
Scot Marc Warren made a spectacular ace at the par-three seventh, holing from 140 yards with a 50° wedge.
Leave a comment