Breakthrough DP World Tour win just the start for Denmark's Niklas Nørgaard 

By Mathieu Wood

After fulfilling a lifelong ambition, Niklas Nørgaard can look ahead to realising new goals as he assesses how to capitalise on the springboard his victory at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo provides him.

At the age of 32, he overcame the inevitable pressure that is attached with vying for a maiden DP World Tour title to land his breakthrough triumph after a tense finish at The Belfry on Sunday.

In doing so, he climbs from 205th to a new career-high world ranking of 114th, rises to sixth on the season-long DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, and straight to the top of the European Ryder Cup Rankings for next year’s event at Bethpage.

With his win, in his 81st DP World Tour appearance, Nørgaard also gains an immeasurable amount of belief in what else he can go on to achieve.

“Since I was ten years old, when I started playing golf, it [the DP World Tour] is what I have always been watching on TV," he told the DP World Tour.

“I have had such a slow career, but always becoming a little better every year. I have not won on the Challenge Tour, not won anything here, and then to win this tournament is quite special.”

As he alludes to, silverware on the DP World Tour has been worth the wait.

Having turned professional in late 2015, he won the order of merit on the Nordic Golf League in 2019 to earn promotion to the Challenge Tour, from which he earned promotion to the DP World Tour in 2021.

Quite simply, winning is hard.

“I had to call my mental coach this morning,” added Nørgaard.

“When you hold a four-shot lead, it feels like you have to protect something, and I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to play for something, really.”

Nerveless throughout his brilliant eight-under-par 64 on Saturday to earn a four-shot lead, Nørgaard had to dig deep down the stretch in the final round.

With a four-shot lead with four holes to play, he looked set to realise a lifelong dream without any undue stress. Far from it, though.

After finding the greenside rough in two at the par five 15th, Nørgaard hit three poor chips in a row, before eventually carding a seven to cut his lead in half.

A nine-foot par putt at the 16th helped him stay two ahead, moments after playing partner Lawrence missed a good birdie chance.

"I was nervous, but not that nervous. That was purely just chipping badly," said Nørgaard of his seven at the 15th.

Nørgaard then showed his resolve to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the par-five 17th for a birdie to retain his two-shot advantage as he was matched by closest pursuer Lawrence.

Then came what he describes as his best shot of the day. A trademark bullet drive onto the fairway at the 18th – the hardest hole all week.

“Getting that shot onto the fairway and then putting it onto the green was a big relief,” he added.

A week on from the Danish Golf Championship, where two Danes finished in the top five, Nørgaard becomes Denmark’s newest champion on the DP World Tour.

It is also a landmark 50th win by a Danish player on the DP World Tour.

By lifting the trophy, Nørgaard becomes the 13th player to win their maiden DP World Tour title this season, and the second Dane to win on the 2024 Race to Dubai after Thorbjørn Olesen at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in January.

In a sign of the togetherness among golfers from Denmark, Nørgaard was met by a host of his countrymen and fellow DP World Tour winners, including eight-time winner Olesen and third-placed Rasmus Højgaard, as he was showered with champagne.

A week on from saying Danish golf was in "dreamworld", Thomas Bjørn can only have helped allow himself a smile as Nørgaard emulated him and Olesen as a winner of the historic British Masters.

While Danish golf has become the envy of many countries in world golf over the past decade, with its depth of talent, Nørgaard is their first first-time winner in almost three years, when Jeff Winther won the Mallorca Golf Open towards the end of the 2021 season.

With his victory, Nørgaard becomes the 13th player - and third in succession - to win their maiden DP World Tour title this season,

More notable, however, is the fact he has made the dream start to the Ryder Cup qualification process for next year's contest when Europe will target victory on U.S. soil for the first time since the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012..

Is being on Luke Donald's team an ambition of his?

"100%, someday, he replied. "This is a pretty good start. But my goal from the beginning of the season was just to get to the final in the Dubai (the DP World Tour Championship).

"Goals can move and adapt. But of course it (making the European Ryder Cup team) would mean the world. But one step at a time, we have just started it [the process], so we will see."

After climbing 30 spots on the DP World Tour rankings with his win, he can get ahead and book his flights to the UAE, with a debut appearance in the season climax at the Earth Course in November on the horizon.

With 10 events left in the season, he is now also the holder of a PGA TOUR card for 2025.

And in a sign that only highlights the emotional toll that must come with winning an elusive title, he has opted not to play at the Omega European Masters this week.

Instead, we are next set to see Nørgaard tee it up again in the Amgen Irish Open, prior to the BMW PGA Championship - the upcoming Rolex Series event - at Wentworth Club.

"Just getting over the line is such a big thing to prove to yourself," he said. "I proved that to myself today (Sunday) with my caddie (Kasper Broch Estrup) that we can do it.

"There is a huge difference between being number two and winning. It is something I would hope for everyone to try, because it is a really cool feeling."