[IMAGE: Aitor Alcalde]
Qualifying school, they say, is golf’s equivalent of the Wild West. A school of hard knocks where good is separated from really good by four rounds, a cut, then two more rounds to determine the futures of 20 pros and ties.
But DP World Tour qualifying school never saw Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen coming. He was – and there’s no way of verifying by this, so just trust us – the most relaxed person in the history of stressful European Q-school. Who else has ever teed up at the gruelling tournament knowing their backup plans were to turn pro and take a guaranteed card on the secondary Challenge Tour, or to remain an amateur and play in the Masters?
It’s like having a breakfast ball at Q-school.
Olesen’s comfortable position began when he became the first player from Denmark to win the British Amateur, at Ireland’s Ballyliffin last June. That earned the former University of Arkansas golfer a spot at the 152nd Open at Royal Troon where he made the cut and was T-60. It also secured a place at Augusta National in 2025, but it was a long wait to drive up Magnolia Lane.
During the American fall season, Olesen, 25, also earned Challenge Tour status via the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings, an new initiative offering the best eligible non-collegiate male amateur within the top 20 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) a DP World Tour card for the following season.
With that in mind, he teed up recently at the Infinitum resort in Spain, some 90 minutes from Barcelona. Competing as an amateur, the left-handed Olesen opened with a 65 and cruised over the next five rounds to a T-20 finish – and a DP World Tour card in hand.
Suffice it to say, Olesen’s subsequent decision seemed fairly clear to him: he turned pro, “went home to Denmark for one day” and headed Down Under for the first event of the 2025 DP World Tour season: the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane. He’s teeing up in a field with major winners Jason Day and Cameron Smith, as well as Min Woo Lee and PGA Tour-bound pros like Harry Higgs.
As whirlwind as the past few weeks have been, it wasn’t easy to turn down a dream trip to Augusta National.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Olesen told Australian Golf Digest at Royal Queensland Golf Club. “Ever since I was a kid and watched tournaments for the first time, I dreamed of going [to Augusta National]. But it’s the same with the DP World Tour, it’s a childhood dream to play out here as well. [At 25], I was a little older for an amateur, [compared] to most. I think it would have been a different, different situation and decision if I was 20. Being 25, I felt like I wanted to get going and it’s hard to turn down a DP World Tour card.”
Coincidentally, as Olesen spoke, the sublimely talented Wenyi Ding hit balls several feet away at Royal Queensland. Ding, from China and a former Arizona State star, won the Asia Pacific Amateur in Japan last month. That earned starts at the 2025 Masters and Open Championship at Royal Portrush, but Ding turned them down as he was No.1 on the Global Amateur Pathway, earning him a DP World Tour card; Olesen finished second, earning him full status on the Challenge Tour if he chose to take it
“He kind of stole it from me,” Olesen said, laughing. “No, [Ding] is an incredible player and deserved it. I hope everything goes well for him.”
Olesen will now embark on his European career, albeit in Australia for the PGA and next week’s Australian Open on the Melbourne Sandbelt.
He hopes his DP World Tour career one day leads to a Ryder Cup appearance, like his countryman and pro golf idol, Nicolai Højgaard and his twin brother, Rasmus.
“It’s almost weird to look up to people that are younger than you,” Olesen said, given the Højgaard twins are only 23. “I speak with them from time to time. They’re really good guys. I watch [the Ryder Cup] every two years and it’s obviously something you dream of playing.”
Eventually, Olsen is backing himself to get to the Masters, too. “Exactly, it’s not like [it has to be a once] in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. “I have to put faith in myself and my team that one day we’ll get there through the professional route, which probably even more fun.”
