Christofer Rahm will tee it up at the Danish Golf Challenge after earning automatic promotion to the Challenge Tour for the remainder of the 2024 Road to Mallorca following his third victory on the Nordic Golf League this season.
The Swede’s promotion was confirmed after a one-stroke victory at the Stora Hotellet Fjällbacka Open last week. Rahm opened the event with a pair of eight-under-par 63s before holding his nerve to shoot 70 on Saturday and earn a Challenge Tour card for the remaining events on the 2024 Road to Mallorca.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” he said. “I went in on Saturday knowing that three wins would get the job done, but I was feeling all kinds of emotions, from excitement to nervous and anxious.
“I had a pretty big lead, but no matter what tour you’re on it’s hard to win. I had the feeling of winning earlier in the season but getting that third one felt very big.”
The 26-year-old opened his season in style with victories at the Golfstar Winter Series – Forest and ECCO Tour Spanish Open, his second and third events of the year respectively. Rahm is hoping his strong form will carry through to the Challenge Tour this year, starting with the Danish Golf Challenge in Odense this week.
“The Nordic Golf League is built upon a lot of good players”, he said. “Many of them have some category on the Challenge Tour, so competition is really high.
“I haven’t played a lot of Challenge Tour, but I know the level is high, so scoring will be pretty low. It helps knowing that if I can compete at that level, I have a chance at this level, and hopefully beyond”.
Rahm takes inspiration from several Swedish players who have tasted success in recent seasons, and is hoping to make a similar leap in the coming years.
“There’s been a big increase in Swedish success around the different tours”, he said. “We push each other to compete at our best.
“Jesper Svensson made the move up to the DP World Tour last year and Björn Åkesson, who I played with on the Nordic League last year, won on the Challenge Tour at the beginning of this season.
“Seeing the success of all these players motivates you to follow their steps and create your own footprint at the same level they’re at.”
The first round of the Danish Golf Challenge gets underway at 7:30am local time on Thursday, with Rahm set to tee it up alongside compatriot Åkesson and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen at 8:30am.
