Thorbjørn Olesen produced a dominant display of frontrunning as he won his seventh DP World Tour title by four strokes at the Thailand Classic.
The Dane, whose last victory came at the 2022 Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett, started the final round at Amata Spring Country Club with a two-stroke lead, but quickly increased his advantage to four after birdies on his opening two holes.
He carded another birdie at the sixth hole but then had to stay patient as six consecutive pars allowed countryman Nicolai Højgaard to move to within two strokes as the 21-year-old made three birdies in a row after the turn.
But Olesen kept his nerve as he carded a hat-trick of birdies of his own from the 13th hole to move five strokes clear. He parred his remaining three holes to sign for a bogey-free six under par 66 and a 24 under par total.
“It felt really good today, it felt steady, like I was in control and I just enjoyed playing golf today, which was very nice,” said Olesen.
When asked about whether he can grab a place in Team Europe’s Ryder Cup team in September, Olesen said:
“I’ve tried it in Paris and had that experience. You would love to come back and play more Ryder Cups. It’s going to be very difficult but this is certainly a very good start to try and get into that team.”
Yannik Paul recorded his best result of the 2023 Race to Dubai as he finished second on 20 under par, two strokes ahead of fellow German Alexander Knappe and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.
Højgaard finished on 17 under par in a share of fifth with Hero Cup teammate Antoine Rozner of France and 2016 Ryder Cup player Rafa Cabrera Bello.
