LONDON, May 9 — Thorbjorn Olesen won the British Masters in thrilling style as the Dane produced an eagle and birdie finish at The Belfry on Sunday.
Olesen held a three-shot lead going into the final round, but the former European Ryder Cup winner sat at four over par after struggling through the first 16 holes.
With Sebastian Soderberg in the clubhouse on nine under, Olesen needed to play the last two holes in two under just to force a play-off.
However, the 32-year-old didn’t have to worry about a play-off as he holed from 28 feet for an eagle on the par-five 17th, then rolled in from 35 feet on the last hole to take the title by one shot.
Olesen’s heroics gave him a first tournament win since 2018, just six months after he was cleared of sexually assaulting a woman on a British Airways flight in July 2019.
The 32-year-old claimed he turned into an “automaton” and was not in control of his body after drinking and taking prescription-only sleeping pills before a flight from Nashville to London, following a tournament in Memphis.
Olesen was ranked 62nd in the world at the time of the incident but began the week 376th and had admitted on Saturday evening he would feel the nerves of attempting to claim his sixth World Tour title.
“It’s a massive tournament won by so many great names so it’s a privilege to have my name on the trophy,” Olesen said.
“It was obviously a pretty tough day and hit a lot of shots to the left. I was really struggling. I somehow just kept going, and yeah, what a finish. Incredible.
“Standing on 17, I’m thinking I can make birdie, birdie and maybe get into a play-off. But obviously when I got the chance on 17, I prefer to take that. 18 is a tough hole, so par is a good score obviously. I just gave it everything.” — AFP
