He’s done it. Rasmus Neergaard-Pettersen (-16) lifted his first title on the Challenge Tour today in India. His first victory as a professional. The Dane held off the onslaught and nerves to achieve a victory that is not easily forgotten. His debut in the winner’s circle. Only a moment of doubt on hole 12 of Royal Calcutta Golf Club shook a certain victory. He recovered as great players do. Two consecutive birdies that gave him a three-stroke margin and that would be enough to keep the distance with the Indian Rahil Ganjee (-14), his great rival in the final round for the title.
Who said that thirteen is the number of bad luck? Rasmus achieves his first victory in just thirteen attempts in the second division of the European circuit. He debuted on the Challenge Tour nine months ago, on June 15th of last year to be exact, in the Czech Republic. It was also his professional debut. He had made the leap two weeks earlier. Since then, the career of the boy born in Denmark has done nothing but grow and grow. With the Kalkota Challenge, he has already played thirteen tournaments in the Challenge and has finished in the top ten in five of them. Not bad at all, but it doesn’t end there. In this same period of time, Neergaard-Pettersen has played seven tournaments on the DP World Tour, passing six cuts, achieving a top ten in his debut in the top category and with a 12th place in Northern Ireland and a 22nd position in Scotland.
Those who have seen Rasmus up close highlight that he is a very solid and very complete player. It’s hard to find a weak point in him, but they do highlight that his iron play is very good. A real straight shooter and in fact that’s how he forged his victory this week in India. The course required much more precision than power and that’s where Neergaard-Pettersen moves like a fish in water.
Today, the 24-year-old Dane started with a four-stroke lead over his main pursuers, Mikael Lindberg and Rahil Ganjee. The Swede soon fell out of the equation with two early bogeys that forced him into an impressive comeback that did not happen. Ganjee, however, patiently waited for the holes to pass, on the lookout for any mistake by the Dane that would allow him to fight for his first victory in the Challenge at the age of 45. He was three strokes behind when the leader made his only big mistake of the week. A double bogey that allowed him to get within a single stroke. The aforementioned quick reaction of the winner prevented Rahil from fighting for the victory in the final holes. 22 players played under par today in Calcutta, which also values that Rasmus has beaten the field all four days of the tournament. Only five players have achieved this this week.
Neergaard-Pettersen, trained at Oklahoma State, spent three years there with Eugenio López-Chacarra. When asked about a role model, the Dane did not hesitate and pointed to Viktor Hovland, with whom he also spent a year in Oklahoma. He sees the Norwegian as an inspiration in his career and someone to emulate. It’s early and there’s no rush, but the Dane has set a good example to follow. Those who have been able to coincide with Rasmus also point him out as a great person.
The Armada bids farewell to the mini tour of two tournaments in India with last week’s 30th place of Víctor Pastor as the best result and with the first weekend without Spaniards in more than five years. It has not been the best of tours if we also take into account that Víctor himself drops out of the privileged positions that give access to the DP World Tour, position 22 at this time. The road is very long and the distance to get back into the top twenty is very short. There is a lot of season ahead and the important thing is to be within the objective next November three. Plenty of time for our players to regain positions.
Despite his grey final round, the Swede Lindberg finished fifth in Calcutta, which allows him to regain the throne of the Road to Mallorca. Rasmus is second in the ranking.
