Thorbjørn Olesen continued his recent good form to move into the automatic qualification places for the Ryder Cup after a fourth-place finish at the Nordea Masters.
A closing 67 at Hills Golf Club helped the Dane to his fifth top ten in nine events, a run that started with his maiden Rolex Series victory at the Italian Open.
His performance in Gothenburg moved Olesen into the fourth and final spot on the World Points List but with 15 days to go until the Ryder Cup Team is finalised, there is still all to play for in the race to get to Le Golf National.
The 28 year old will next tee it up at the final qualifying event at the Made In Denmark and he admits the pressure will be ramped up even more than usual on home soil.
“There's always a lot of pressure when we play in Denmark and probably a little bit extra this time,” he said.
If I can keep grinding and working like I did this week and last week to get better the results will come - Thorbjørn Olesen
“I've been playing great for three or four months so that will probably add a bit more pressure but if I can keep grinding and working like I did this week and last week to get better the results will come.”
On Sunday, Olesen got in trouble on the third to drop a shot but an approach to five feet on the eighth helped get him back level for the day before he also birdied the 12th, 17th and 18th.
“I started off not good,” he added. “I bogeyed the third hole which is a par five and I probably lost two shots to the field there so that set me back.
“I tried to be aggressive from there on and tried to go for everything and I felt like I hit some good shots but they didn't get close up to the pin.
“It was like a day where it could have been good but it didn't happen. I gave it everything today. I tried my hardest, played aggressive, that's all I can do.
“I didn't have my A-game today and half the round yesterday and in that way finishing top five is a pretty good result.”
Maximilian Kieffer finished a shot ahead of Olesen after a birdie-birdie-birdie finish in a round of 65 and the German believes he is getting close to his very best.
“My game is probably closest to the best it has ever been,” he said. “I hardly missed any shots the whole four days I just didn’t make any putts the first two days. I probably played better the first two days, ball-striking wise. If I can keep this up it will be very nice.
“Today was tense, I was a little - I wouldn’t say nervous - but a little tense that I haven’t had the results this year that I was hoping for.
“The first three days I was very calm and today I just tried to stay in the present, clear on what I was going to do on the golf shots, try not to over-think things. I can take a lot from this today.”
