Thjorborn Olesen Wins Thailand Classic

Thjorborn Olesen made it seven wins on the DP World Tour in remarkable fashion, as he dominated the Thailand Classic at Amata Spring CC, finishing at 24-under, beating Germany’s Yannik Paul by four shots.

Olesen's last win on tour came at The British Masters, hosted by Danny Willett last year where he beat Sweden’s Sebastian Sodeberg by one-shot. Denmark’s Olesen came into this week's event in a rich vein of form after finishing T4 at Ras Al Khaimah in his last start.

A bogey-free third-round with eight birdies meant the 33-year-old began the final-round two-shots ahead of Paul and fellow compatriot, Nicolai Hojgaard, both in second and found themselves in the last group with Olesen on Sunday.

The Dane started the final-round stress free as he birdied the first two holes to extend his lead over the field before adding another on the sixth and three successive birdies on the back-nine at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to complete another bogey-free round. 

Although unsuccessful, Paul chased Olesen in the hunt for his second DP World Tour win and turned in another sub-par round after shooting 68 in the final round to claim his best finish on tour since his win at the Mallorca Golf Open in October last year. 

It was a final-round to forget for Hojgaard, who dropped down to fifth in the leaderboard due to a disaster on the 16th hole where he found the water and that helped end his search for a third DP World Tour title.

At one point, Hojgaard was only two-shots behind Olesen but a birdie at the 13th hole helped create a gap which ultimately proved to be a vital moment for the winner.

“Yeah, it came at the right time. I felt like I had some really good chances to make birdies and didn’t really capitalise on them and then obviously it’s a bonus on two tough holes to make those two birdies. It really, yeah, pulled me out and made me feel a little bit more comfortable for the last few holes,” said Olesen.

This win propels Olesen into fifth place in the Race To Dubai rankings but the Dane will also be hoping his good form can continue in order to push him into the reckoning for the Ryder Cup in Italy, later this year which he believes is a priority.

“Obviously [I] tried it in Paris and had that experience and obviously you would love to come back and play more Ryder Cup's. It’s going to be very difficult, but this is certainly a very good start to try and get into that team.” Olesen added.