Rasmus Højgaard became the third youngest winner in European Tour history with a dramatic play-off triumph at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The 18-year-old Dane birdied the 72nd hole to get to 19 under par alongside Italian Renato Paratore and Frenchman Antoine Rozner as the event went to a play-off for the third time in as many stagings at Heritage Golf Club.
Højgaard missed a 12 foot eagle putt for the title on the first trip back up the par five 18th hole but – after halving the hole in birdies with Rozner at the second attempt – made a three from similar range at the third time of asking to take the title.
At 18 years and 271 days old, only Italian Matteo Manassero – who won twice as a 17-year-old – and New Zealander Danny Lee have won on the European Tour at a younger age.
Højgaard came to prominence in 2018 as he won the Eisenhower Trophy for Denmark alongside identical twin Nicolai and John Axelsen and played with his brother at the Junior Ryder Cup.
Nicolai finished second to Sergio Garcia at last season’s KLM Open but after becoming the first player born in the 21st century to graduate from the Qualifying School, Rasmus is now a European Tour winner in just his fifth event.
That makes him the fastest Dane to a European Tour win, beating 15 time winner and 2018 Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn’s record of 24 events.
Belgian Thomas Detry, Scotland’s Grant Forrest ,Benjamin Hebert of France and South African Louis de Jager finished one shot behind the leading trio on 18 under par, with another Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrest one shot further back in solo eighth position.
Julien Guerrier was the fourth player from France inside the top ten at 16 under par, alongside South African Oliver Bekker, Sihwan Kim of the United States and Scotland’s Connor Syme.
Player quotes
Rasmus Højgaard: “I’m lost for words. It’s amazing and I’m over the moon. This is a dream come true for me. I just kept telling myself to believe in yourself and trust the number. I did what I could and it was enough for me to win.
“I was obviously nervous, playing in my first play-off but I was in a situation where I had nothing to lose. So, I was confident especially with my shots coming in. It was pretty cool to close out the 18th hole today.
“My approach shots were all very good there and I just managed to do what I had to do. It’s cool to win so early in my career and it’s something just very amazing and I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”
Renato Paratore: “I pulled my second shot too much to the left. It was not the best shot I made and it landed off the green and I knew I had no chance. I could have aimed more to the right. I played really solid all week and even though I didn’t win in the play-off, overall it has been a good week.
Antoine Rozner: “Everything comes down to one playoff hole. I made some amazing birdies on the first two play-off holes. I have nothing to regret. I gave my best. Congratulations to Rasmus. He hit some amazing shots down the stretch.”
Round four scores
269 R Højgaard (Den) 66 69 66 68, A Rozner (Fra) 67 67 66 69, R Paratore (Ita) 69 67 66 67,
270 L De Jager (RSA) 7265 69 64, T Detry (Bel) 67 66 67 70, G Forrest (Sco) 66 71 67 66, B Hebert (Fra) 66 68 70 66,
271 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 73 68 65 65,
272 J Guerrier (Fra) 71 67 68 66, S Kim (USA) 67 67 67 71, C Syme (Sco) 68 66 69 69, O Bekker (RSA) 69 70 66 67,
273 B Stone (RSA) 66 67 69 71, A Wu (Chn) 71 65 68 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 67 69 69, T Pieters (Bel) 74 66 67 66,
274 J Randhawa (Ind) 70 69 70 65, M Pavon (Fra) 67 66 75 66, T Lawrence (RSA) 69 70 66 69, C Hill (Sco) 68 64 68 74,
275 J Veerman (USA) 70 71 67 67, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 67 68 68 72, G Higgo (RSA) 70 67 71 67, G Coetzee (RSA) 71 70 66 68,
276 M Siem (Ger) 69 71 69 67,
277 Y Liu (Chn) 70 70 68 69, Z Lombard (RSA) 67 71 73 66, R Langasque (Fra) 66 74 71 66, A Chesters (Eng) 71 67 71 68, L Gagli (Ita) 71 67 70 69, J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 66 75 65, H Porteous (RSA) 69 69 70 69,
278 T Smyth (Aus) 70 66 71 71, D Van Tonder (RSA) 70 71 67 70, J Walters (RSA) 74 67 69 68, T Linard (Fra) 7268 67 71, J Ahlers (RSA) 67 7269 70,
279 N Schietekat (RSA) 70 68 71 70, J Singh Brar (Eng) 69 71 68 71, R Enoch (Wal) 70 70 71 68, J Strydom (RSA) 69 69 70 71, O Strydom (RSA) 68 727267,
280 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 7268 70 70, B Easton (RSA) 7264 75 69, L Slattery (Eng) 70 70 66 74, G Fdez-Castaño (Esp) 70 71 71 68, D Law (Sco) 68 71 71 70, J Catlin (USA) 70 69 7269,
281 C Pigem (Esp) 7265 73 71, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 67 7272, P Lawrie (Sco) 71 69 68 73,
282 J Ritchie (RSA) 70 68 71 73, S Maeng (USA) 7269 7269,
283 H Otto (RSA) 70 68 73 72, K Horne (RSA) 67 71 74 71, A Chadha (Ind) 69 70 71 73, U Mane (Ind) 73 68 74 68, J Higginbottom (Aus) 70 70 7271, G Havret (Fra) 70 71 70 72,
284 J Senior (Eng) 69 71 7272, R Bland (Eng) 70 71 69 74, D Fichardt (RSA) 68 69 73 74,
285 O Farr (Wal) 7268 73 72, K Davidse (RSA) 70 71 74 70,
286 R Santos (Por) 67 74 74 71, C Basson (RSA) 71 70 73 72,
289 S Prakongvech (Tha) 74 67 74 74, S Kooratanapisan (Tha) 71 70 75 73,
290 A Michael (RSA) 74 64 75 77, D McGuigan (Sco) 73 68 74 75,
291 V Madappa (Ind) 71 70 75 75,
292 E Conradie (RSA) 69 69 79 75,
