Jacob Skov Olesen shares the lead after the opening day of The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush.
Since making the cut at Royal Troon last summer as an amateur, he has made encouraging strides in the paid ranks after turning professional upon earning his DP World Tour card at Qualifying School.
After coming through Final Qualifying at Burnham & Berrow earlier this month to earn his Major return, the Dane made a four-under-par 67.
"I would say I always feel like if I play my game that I can do well, especially around here, around links courses," a delighted Olesen later said as he spoke to the media.
It was no wonder that his performance - one which saw him make 146ft of putts left his father, Anders, full of pride.
"I am very proud because he's worked very hard to be here," he said.
Here are five things to know about the early pacesetter in Northern Ireland.
Amateur triumph at Ballyliffin
On June 22, 2024, Olesen became Denmark’s first winner of the prestigious Amateur Championship. On what was his debut in the event, he came through the 36-hole stroke play qualifying in joint 21st place and then progressed through six rounds of match play to lift the title at Ballyliffin. He was taken to the 20th hole in the last 16 and came from two down with four to play against Walker Cup star Calum Scott in the quarter-finals, before he emerged with a 4&3 victory against England’s Dominic Clemons in the 36-hole final in Ireland. “It’s an honour, and I’m really proud to be the first Danish winner,” he said. “I guess that’s something I’ll have forever, which is super cool. I hope it can inspire someone else from Denmark to win next year or maybe some other years in the future.”
Qualifying School success
After making the cut on his debut at The Open at Royal Troon in July, doing so with 18 consecutive pars during the second round, Olesen starred by finishing tied fifth on home soil at the Danish Golf Championship. A week later he would again make the cut at the Omega European Masters after receiving an invite to compete in Switzerland, while he accumulated enough points on the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings to guarantee himself a Challenge Tour card for 2025. However, after progressing through the Second Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School, the opportunity to accelerate his development came at Final Stage. He opened with bogey-free 65 at Infinitum Golf and afterwards said he was likely playing with the least amount of stress at the six-round marathon, knowing that if he did not get his card he would keep his amateur status and play at the Masters. But he was certainly feeling the pressure down the stretch over the Lakes Course in the final round, parring his final three holes to finish tied 20th and just do enough to secure a DP World Tour card for the 2025 season. “I think it just shows what I’ve been thinking all year – that I’m good enough and that I have the game,” he told the DP World Tour afterwards. He subsequently turned professional and eight months into his rookie season, Olesen has registered three top tens to underscore his potential and prove that the 26-year-old was right not to wait – even if watching the Masters on television was tough.
Time in college golf
Olesen began college life at Ranger in Texas, where he was the recipient of the 2020 NJCAA Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award after finishing as the top-ranked college player according to GolfStat. He transferred to Texas Christian University (TCU) for his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons of college golf, graduating from TCU in the spring of 2023 with a bachelors in communication studies. He played his final season at Arkansas University where he earned All-America honours and formed part of Team International at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup, with future DP World Tour member Wenyi Ding of China also in action.
Success as a caddie for girlfriend and fellow professional Darcey Harry
In June, Olesen put his clubs away for a two-week period during the DP World Tour's recent European Swing to lend a helping hand to girlfriend and professional golfer Darcey Harry. Success as a partnership was immediate as Wales' Harry won her first Ladies European Tour title at the Hulencourt Women's Open in Belgium with his support on the bag. Speaking to the DP World Tour last month about the brief change in role, Olesen said: “She was in Belgium with me for the Soudal Open for the weekend and I wanted to do the same for her. She’d just said goodbye to her caddie so needed a different one and asked if I wanted to help her out and I was happy to do that.”
A background in greenkeeping
Prior to heading out to play college golf in the States five years ago, he worked as a seasonal greenkeeper at Royal Copenhagen. He first started working as a greenkeeper while he was in high school to earn some pocket money, with the early finishes and location meaning he could get some practice in to further his progress as a junior golfer. “It fitted in really nice compared to having to go out to a supermarket,” he said in an interview with the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. “The work schedule fitted in really nicely with me over the summers. Obviously getting up early was a little hard, but you were done at 11:30 and have all day to practise. If I wasn’t doing that work, I’d be waking up at ten and be done working in the afternoon. I already knew about golf, so I knew about how they would want things to look. When you play golf for a long time, you can pick up on the things a lot easier and faster.”
