Thorbjørn Olesen said that last year’s dramatic victory at the Betfred British Masters helped him regain confidence and self-belief that he could still compete at the top of the game.
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A year on from making his 36-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to win his first tournament in nearly four years, Olesen is back inside the world’s top 100, has another victory to his name, and sits ninth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
It’s a very different place to where he was heading into this event last year. Entering that week he was ranked 376th in the Official World Golf Rankings, with just one top ten in the preceding 12 months.
The former Ryder Cup player admitted that while he had been working incredibly hard in the lead up, he had struggled with an apprehensiveness when near contention in previous events.
For Olesen, it wasn’t until his final putt dropped that he truly regained that sense of confirmation about his own ability.
“It was a very special week last year for me,” he said.
“Winning, having my family here, the time it came. It was a very special week and one that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.
“I felt like I did some good work before it last year but it’s a different story to get over the line and win a golf tournament. You have to get up there a few times and feel the adrenaline and the nervousness again so that when you get over the line if gives you that belief and confidence going forward that you know you can do it when you have a chance. That’s very important in this game because it’s difficult when you get nervous and are in those tough positions to get out of them and overcome them.
“I think after all of those years, coming back and winning gave me confidence I can still win. I knew I had it in me still but you doubt yourself a lot during those times where you are not up there and don’t have a chance to win so to get over that line gave me a lot of belief in myself again, and that’s been very important.”
The day itself wasn’t as straightforward a victory as Olesen would have liked, and he struggled with a hook for the majority of the day.
With five bogeys and on his card and Sebastian Soderberg in the clubhouse on nine under, Olesen needed to play the last two holes in two under just to force a play-off. The Dane went one better by holing from 28 feet for an eagle on the par-five 17th and 36 feet across the 18th green, which was the second day running that he had produced a miracle eagle-birdie finish. It secured the 32-year-old his sixth DP World Tour title and most significantly his first since the 2018 Italian Open.
It's a moment he’s seen a few times this week already as he prepares to defend at The Belfry.
“I’ve seen it on social media a few times the last few days. It was an unbelievable putt, and on 17 as well, the way to win the golf tournament was nice.
“It was a tough day for me and I fell back quite quickly during the round and I had to dig deep to find a chance to win. The putt on 17 gave me so much adrenaline and gave me belief there was a still a chance to win this golf tournament so when I saw that putt drop on 18 all the emotion, all the fighting I’ve been through and all the practice and grind, came out in that moment.”
This year, he arrives back to the Sutton Coldfield venue with more confidence and more form, having recorded four top tens already in 2023, which includes a commanding four stroke victory at the Thailand Classic.
He missed the cut in the U.S. Open but made the weekend at the Porsche European Open in his last outing, and is now excited to get his title defence underway at the event - which is hosted by Sir Nick Faldo for the first time.
"The British Masters has a long history and is a very special tournament, and he crowds in the UK have always been unbelievable so to win here was very special.
"[Faldo] is a legend of our sport, a Major Champion and World Number One. Him putting his name and helping this tournament is incredible for us, and it’s only going to get better for every year he’s helping this tournament.
"I'm excited."
