RASMUS Hogaard became the second Danish player to win the Irish Open at Royal County Down on Sunday, when he made an incredible run of six birdies on the back nine to beat Rory McIlroy by a stroke.
During that amazing series of holes he scored a chip-in birdie at the tenth and a hole-out bunker shot on the 17th.
The Dane, who follows in the footsteps of Soren Kjeldsen who won the title in 2015 in Newcastle, praised the fans in the aftermath.
He said, “I’ve had great support out there this week. Yeah, I think the Irish Open, Northern Irish fans are some of the best in the world. I always enjoyed coming here to play. Even though they were rooting for Rory to win, I felt very supported.”
Rasmus had an incredible back nine and afterwards he spoke about how he handled the pressure.
“In my mind I knew that I had to make birdies out there. It’s hard to force birdies on this golf course. It so happens by itself a little bit, it’s easy to say. But you know, I was trying to stay as patient and as present as possible.
“Sounds a bit clichéd but again, it’s pretty much all we can do when you’re out there, is trying to focus on ourselves and try to see if we can make birdies.”
The two key moments in the round were on the tenth and 17th holes when he holed out from off the green on both holes for birdies.
Of the result on the tenth hole he said, “Was only one-under after nine. I knew I had to find some gold on the back nine. I got away with a chip-in on 10, and it sort of elevated my game a little.”
Then Rasmus explained the 17th, “it was a poor second shot. [I was a bit] worried that it might have been plugged in the bunker. But was obviously [i was] very happy that I saw it was a good lie. That gave me a bit of confidence that I could get it up-and-down, and then to hole it was obviously a key moment for the outcome.”
Rory had been leading since the start and only relinquished his lead when Rasmus birdied the 17th and Rory bogeyed the 15th. That left Rory on seven under and Rasmus on eight under. Rory bounced back with a birdie at 16 to go to minus eight, and the players were level. But Rasmus birdied 18 to go one ahead at nine under, and when Rory bogeyed 17 to go two back, he needed an eagle to force a play-off. Rasmus watched the Holwood man miss his penultimate putt before he celebrated.
But he admitted to being nervous in those final moments watching Rory on the course.
“I was shaking in the recording room. Yeah, it’s a tough one. I obviously expected [Rory] to make it (the eagle). You know, yes, it’s hard to watch.”
He said the win was an important one for his career.
“It’s massive. It’s one of those tournaments that you want to put your name on, so it’s awesome.
“It’s so hard to win, and you know, to do it here, at this event is amazing.”
It was extra important because the win earns Rasmus a PGA Tour card which he had targeted this season after missing out last year.
“It was a top goal this year. Yeah, it’s going to be cool I can go over and play in America with my brother, Nicolai, now. It makes our lives a bit easier.
“It was a tough one last year (not getting a card) but definitely motivated me.”
The prize for Rasmus as the winner of the Irish Open is Eur920,329, as well as 835 points on the race to Dubai.
Rory McIlroy wins Eur595,507. Third place Matteo Manassero wins Eur346,063.
China’s Wu Ashun finished in 68th place and won Eur11,910.
In the current issue of the Mourne Observer see 16 pages of coverage of the Irish Open that includes invterviews with players, fans and volunteers as well as loads of images from the event.