Rasmus Højgaard says “patience” will be pivotal at the European Open as he looks to embark on another run of consistent performances that will help him realise his primary goals this season on the DP World Tour.
The Dane is among those making their first appearance of the European Swing in Germany this week after a strong start to the year helped him qualify for the US PGA Championship earlier this month.
Højgaard registered three consecutive top tens during the International Swing and returns to mainland Europe with high hopes for the upcoming stretch of events.
Green Eagle Golf Courses – host venue this week – has not proven a scene of great success for the four-time DP World Tour winner over recent years but he is still looking forward to the challenge that awaits.
“I always enjoy coming here to play,” he said. “I haven't done very well in the past, but hopefully I can turn that around this week.
“It's a course where you can make birdies out there, but at the same time it's easy to play 10/12/13 holes without seeing a birdie out there. It can be a tricky golf course. The winning score is never that low.
“There's typically always a low first round score line and you end up thinking the score is going to be 15 or 20 under, but it I don't think we've seen that in the last few years. So, I think patience is going to be one of the keys this week.”
The Dane started the year with back-to-back ties for 11th at the Dubai Invitational and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, before securing top tens in Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain and Qatar to lie eighth in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
While his form has dipped somewhat since then, he made the cut in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla and he is taking a philosophical approach ahead of what promises to be a big summer of golf.
Højgaard fell just short of joining his twin brother Nicolai in earning PGA TOUR status in 2024, while maintaining the flexibility to play on the DP World Tour, and has already said that is high up again in his goals for this year.
“You always want to get into those runs where you're in contention, but at the same time it's not something you're chasing,” said the 23-year-old who is set to join defending champion Tom McKibbin and Germany's DP World Tour winner Yannik Paul over the first two rounds.
“It sort of happens itself, so you just want to practise well, prepare well and then you go out on the course and do as best as you can.
“Sometimes that means you're in contention four or five weeks in a row, but sometimes it's making a cut or fighting to make the cut. It'd be good if I could find the form I did at the start of the year, but again, we've got a long season ahead of us.”
