Olesen on the hunt for second Ryder Cup appearance

Thorbjørn Olesen climbed eight places on the European Points List thanks to a solo third finish at the Soudal Open on the DP World Tour, as he searches for a second Ryder Cup appearance.

A final round of 66 fired the 2018 Ryder Cup winner up the leaderboard on Sunday for a podium finish, as well as moving up the qualification standings where he sits in seventh place on the European Points List with 1,073.25 points.

Should the Dane make Luke Donald’s team at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in September, it would be his second appearance for Team Europe after a successful debut under fellow Dane Thomas Bjørn at Le Golf National, Pairs, France in 2018.

Olesen has been in consistent form this year, picking up three top six finishes alongside a victory at the Thailand Classic in February – his seventh DP World Tour title.

The 33-year-old played two matches at the 2018 Ryder Cup. His first came alongside Rory McIlroy in the opening four-ball session but would unfortunately end in defeat to Team USA’s Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson, 4&2.

However, the Dane more than made up for this loss with a 5&4 victory in his Sunday singles matches against three-time Major Champion Jordan Spieth to help Europe on their way to a memorable victory in Paris.

Should Olesen make the team in September he will become only the second Dane to represent Team Europe on more than one occasion, following in the footsteps of 2018 Captain Bjørn (1997, 2002 and 2014).

As it stands Jon Rahm (2,883.53 points), Rory McIlroy (2,189.20 points) and Yannik Paul (1,389.14 points) sit in the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Tyrrell Hatton (146.66 points), Matt Fitzpatrick (128.47 points) and Viktor Hovland (123.88 points) in the top three positions on the World Points List.

The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between September 25 – October 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.

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