The duel between Rasmus Hojgaard (-15) and Marco Penge (-16) for victory this Sunday at the Danish Golf Championship did not disappoint. It was the Englishman who finally came out on top after more than four hours of magnificent battle, but both offered a brilliant spectacle that inevitably has to be seen in a Ryder Cup context.
Hojgaard dominated at the start with a brilliant performance. He went to -17 after six holes (four under par), missing a very short putt for birdie on the 5th and took a four-shot lead over Penge. Yes, it was only the first third of the round, but at that moment it felt like the tournament was half decided. The Englishman never lost his composure, but the sense of Rasmus’s power was total.
However, we know how golf can be. Rasmus began to falter. He opened the door. He missed the tee shot on the 7th, let a short birdie putt slip away on the 8th, got tangled in the rough on the 9th, and made another poor approach on the 10th. In total, he lost everything he had gained in the first six holes over the next four. Four over par. Back to square one and the lead lost. Penge, doing his thing, without getting into trouble and making birdies where needed, moved one ahead.
On the 13th hole, he took a two-shot lead and now it was he who seemed to be in total control of the situation. Here came the exchange of blows. The tournament entered a phase of madness. Rasmus made a great birdie on the 14th, but left another bogey on the 15th with a rather avoidable three-putt. However, eight minutes later it was Penge who three-putted and dropped another shot. With two holes to go, the Englishman had a one-shot lead, but the Fureso Golf Klub still held faith in their idol.
The hope seemed to crumble like a house of cards on the 17th. Penge hit what seemed (and later confirmed) to be the shot of the tournament. After the first cut of rough, risking it with the driver from the tee, he hit a majestic second shot to a metre and a half from the flag. Birdie made and two shots ahead with the last par 5 to go. More than half the victory in the bag. Or so it seemed…
Hojgaard’s response on the 18th was majestic. He outdrove Penge (which is not easy because the Englishman hits very long) and left himself an eagle chance from about three metres. Sensational. Meanwhile, Marco played smart, bouncing off the grandstand and his approach finished a metre from the hole. Rasmus holed the eagle putt to the delight of the enthusiastic Danish crowd, but Penge did not falter. Right in the middle and with great determination. Birdie-eagle to finish. Fireworks.
Penge has achieved a victory worth a ‘hat-trick’. It is his second win on the DP World Tour after conquering Hainan earlier this year, securing the PGA Tour card (with the points he has already accumulated, close to 2,500, last year he would have secured the fourth of the ten cards) and also takes a giant step towards getting into the Ryder Cup. Suddenly, he has become the top favourite for that twelfth spot that is up in the air (the 11 considered certain are: McIlroy, Fleetwood, Rose, MacIntyre, Hatton, Straka, Rasmus Hojgaard, Lowry, Rahm, Aberg, and Hovland). We’ll see what happens because there is still the British Masters, the end of the BMW, and the Tour Championship to be played, so things can still change, but Penge, for now, has made a very strong case. By the way, we say ‘hat-trick’, but we could almost talk about a poker, as the champion in Denmark has also won the Closing Swing, securing an additional 200,000 euros for his pocket.
If we analyse what happened in Fureso in a Ryder Cup context, the lesser evil for Rasmus Hojgaard, despite not winning the tournament at home, is that he has secured a definitive spot on the team. No one can take him out of Bethpage. With what he adds with the second position, he will be two points away from the sixth place occupied by Straka (awaiting what happens tonight at the BMW). That is, he will not finish the week among the top six, but he is very close, he will have another opportunity next week at the British Masters and the way he lost, with that extraordinary eagle on the last hole, is one that adds many points to be in a Ryder. He forced Penge to hole a final one-metre putt to win. It’s what you want to see in match play even if you lose the match.
As for the Armada, there are two major disappointments and two players who add a juicy haul for their respective goals. Eugenio Chacarra (-4), with a final round of 71 strokes, finished in 16th place and moves up one in the Race to Dubai. He is about 150 points away from the PGA Tour card. The line is currently marked by Shaun Norris, 14th place. Chacarra is 19th.
Meanwhile, Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2) has strung together his third par round to finish in 29th place. It is not the best week for the Canary Islander, but it helps him to add some valuable points. He gets inside the top 113 (107th place) who will currently save the card for next year. It is even possible that this line will go a little lower when at the end of the year the players who do not count to keep the card or qualify for Abu Dhabi and Dubai are removed. The Canary Islander continues to scrape by.
The two disappointments are Alfredo García Heredia (-3) and Sebas García Rodríguez (+6), each for their own circumstances. The first because he has had a great week and had a chance to make a very important leap in the Race to Dubai. He was within reach of the top 10 all day and finished in 24th place with an abrupt finish with two bogeys and a double bogey in the last four holes. Had he played them at par, he would have finished eleventh. The difference is very significant in his situation in the Race to Dubai. He adds points and it is always positive, but he has left behind a larger haul that he came close to grasping. Sebas, on the other hand, has signed a Sunday to forget.
