Andreas Halvorsen held his nerve to secure a wire-to-wire victory at the Danish Golf Challenge for his first Challenge Tour title.
Halvorsen, who led by three strokes going into the final round at Odense Eventyr Golf, fired three birdies on the front nine to hold a four-shot advantage before play was suspended due to threat of lightning.
Despite dropping shots on the first two holes after the restart, Halvorsen held his nerve to card a one under par 71 and finish three strokes clear of Englishman John Parry, Icelander Gudmunder Kristjansson, and Finn Oliver Lindell.
“This is huge,” the Norwegian said. “Going into the day that’s what I was hoping for, so I’m very pleased to finally get it done.
“I tried not to let my mind go, but obviously it did at times. I don’t think I’ve played a round being more stressed than this – I’m very pleased to be done and win.”
“[My parents] came here Wednesday night and we’ve had a fantastic week here, so it’s been really special.”
The 27-year-old led from the first round in Odense after carding three consecutive rounds of 66 over the first 54 holes. He highlighted the importance of those low scoring rounds in giving him the confidence to seal the win heading into Sunday.
“I played some great golf the first three days to even have a chance,” he said. “Starting the season, I didn’t really think I would be good enough to do this – it’s cool seeing that I am.
“Obviously this is also going to help my ranking quite a bit.”
Denmark’s Peter Launer Baek – who was playing on his home course this week – finished fifth at 15 under par, one shot clear of Road to Mallorca Number One Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who shared sixth with fellow Dane Jens Kristian Thysted and Frenchman Felix Mory.
Halvorsen’s victory catapults him into the top ten on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, while Neergaard-Petersen remains in pole position with a 420-point lead over Parry – who leapfrogs Frenchman Alex Levy, Spaniard Joel Moscatel, and Swede Mikael Lindberg into second.
The Road to Mallorca takes a week off before returning for the Challenge de Cadiz at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri in Andalucia, Spain from June 6-9.
