Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen continued his meteoric rise through the golfing ranks after he secured automatic promotion to the DP World Tour following his third victory of the Road to Mallorca season at the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG.
The 25-year-old, who turned professional just 15 months ago, is the latest young star to emerge from Denmark and he is now set to join countrymen Niklas Norgaard, Rasmus Højgaard and Thorbjørn Olesen on the DP World Tour for the remainder of the campaign, starting with the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down this week.
Journey to the paid ranks
After growing up near Copenhagen, Neergaard-Petersen would take his place in the Danish national team where he would go on to represent his country at age group level.
From there, the 25-year-old opted to play collegiate golf for Oklahoma State, where he stayed for five years, during which time he teed it up alongside the likes of 2023 Ryder Cup star Victor Hovland and PGA TOUR winner Matthew Wolff, laying the foundations for an impressive start to life as a professional.
An instant impression
After turning professional in June 2023, Neergaard-Petersen made waves in his first DP World Tour start. Playing on an invite in the BMW International Open, he would lead at the halfway stage in Munich before eventually finishing tied seventh.
He would impress on the DP World Tour again just over a month later, finishing tied 12th in the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics.
In eight Challenge Tour starts during the calendar year, he would record four top 12 finishes to end the season 64th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and guarantee full playing status for 2024.
A maiden win
It took just five events of the 2024 Road to Mallorca for Neergaard-Petersen to earn a maiden Challenge Tour title.
Leading by four strokes going into the final round of the Kolkata Challenge in India, he would come under pressure from home favourite Rahil Gangjee who at one stage had cut the gap to one, but back-to-back birdies on the back nine ensured he entered the winner’s circle.
Make that two
Following two weeks in India, the Road to Mallorca headed to the UAE for back-to-back events, with Neergaard-Petersen recording a tied seventh finish in the Abu Dhabi Challenge, a result that would see him climb into polo position on the Rankings for the first time.
A week later, in the UAE Challenge, he would make it two wins in three starts, earning a one stroke victory at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club to all but secure his promotion to golf’s Global Tour after just eight events of the season.
Chasing a third
With promotion all but secured through his points accumulation on the Rankings, Neergaard-Petersen was targeting a third victory which would ensure automatic promotion to the DP World Tour.
The first of those opportunities came in his very next start, in the Challenge de Espana at Real Club Sevilla Golf. On that occasion, a closing birdie from Spaniard Joel Moscatel would see Neergaard-Petersen settle for a share of second place.
Another top ten came two weeks later on home soil, in the Danish Golf Challenge, but it was in the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG that he would get the job done.
Automatic promotion
Starting the final round six shots off the lead in Munich, Neergaard-Petersen would fire a sensational eight under par round of 64 on the last day to make sure of win number three.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “My goal at the start of the season was to finish in the top 20 but I could never have imagined my season would go the way it did. It’s been an awesome year and the Challenge Tour has been a great learning ground for me and I’ve developed a lot as a professional golfer.”
Neergaard-Petersen has now secured playing status on the DP World Tour for the remainder of the 2024 Race to Dubai in Partnership with Rolex and the entirety of the 2025/26 season. He becomes the first player to win three times during a regular Challenge Tour season since England’s Aaron Rai in 2017.
