Saturday, October 26, 2024
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is relishing the opportunity to play his way into the DP World Tour Play-Offs after a brilliant third round at the Genesis Championship.
The Dane has enjoyed a stellar 2024, which has seen the 25-year-old start on the European Challenge Tour before securing automatic promotion to the DP World Tour courtesy of three victories.
He became the first player since Kim Koivu in 2018 to secure three triumphs in a single campaign. His maiden success came at the Kolkata Challenge in March before making it two in three events at the UAE Challenge in April when he came from three shots adrift to claim a one-shot victory ahead of overnight leader Wilco Nienaber.
His third win was the most dramatic as he was nine shots off the lead heading into the weekend at Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG before carding a flawless 67 on Moving Day.
He then rolled in nine birdies and a solitary bogey in his 64 to set the clubhouse target of 15 under par where he was joined by Daniel Young, only for the third round co-leader to bogey the last to hand Neergaard-Petersen victory.
The World Number 102 immediately stepped up to the DP World Tour and has already celebrated three top 20 finishes in five events, including fourth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship earlier this month.
Neergaard-Petersen moved into contention at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea thanks to eight birdies and one bogey in his 65 on Moving Day to climb to ten under, two shots adrift of joint leaders Byeong Hun An and Tom Kim.
The top 70 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex after Sunday’s final round in Incheon will secure their spot at next month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
He will compete at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A in Mallorca next week, but his attention is firmly on extending his season in the Middle East.
“It’s feels incredible, I feel like I played my way back into the tournament,” Neergaard-Petersen said. “I have a chance going into tomorrow so super excited about that.
“I hit a couple more fairways today, I started getting going, chipped in on 12 and made some more putts, so that was really key for me today to making more birdies. I haven’t produced enough birdies the last two days prior to today.
“I’m so excited. It’s been a long couple of weeks, the last couple of months I’ve played a lot of golf so it feels like I’m getting closer to a break soon.
“But to give myself a chance tomorrow to play my way into Abu Dhabi is awesome and I’m really looking forward to it.”
