Both Rasmus Højgaard and Sepp Straka made strides in the Ryder Cup rankings after wins on both the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR.
It was Højgaard to lift a trophy first, as he claimed the Made in HimmerLand title on the DP World Tour after a six hole play-off against Spain’s Nacho Elvira.
The win fired the Dane up nine spots on the European Points List into fifth place with 1,516.86 points, less than 100 points away from Germany’s Yannik Paul who holds the third and final qualifying spot with 1,607.00 points.
Højgaard started the day a staggering six shots behind Elvira, however four birdies in his first seven holes set the wheels in motion for the 22-year-old Dane.
And when Elvira, who has one DP World Tour title to his name, carded a level par final round, the event would head to a play-off.
There was nothing to separate the two after the first five attempts at the 18th hole, as the pair matched each other blow for blow.
However, when Elvira flew his second shot out of bounds, a sixth consecutive play-off par would see Højgaard claim his fourth DP World Tour event.
He also became the first Dane to win the Made in HimmerLand in its last ever staging.
“I’m speechless at the moment," Højgaard said. "To be fair, I didn’t think I’d end up in a play-off – it’s quite amazing. To win a home event, it’s amazing.
“It isn’t that long ago that I was one of those kids trying to get balls and signed gloves, so it’s cool to see them out here supporting us.
“This is better than I could ever dream of. We’ve wanted a Danish winner for so long now, so to be the first one to do it is amazing.”
Meanwhile, on the PGA TOUR, Austria’s Sepp Straka claimed a sensational win at the John Deere Classic thanks to an electric nine under par final round to win by two strokes.
Straka’s second PGA TOUR victory moves him up three places into seventh position on the World Points List with 103.32 points.
Chasing a birdie at the last to become the 12th player in PGA TOUR history to card a sub-60 round, Strake hit his approach into the water to close with a double bogey.
However, Brendan Todd and Alex Smalley were left with too much to do as Straka set the pace at 21-under-par.
“At my best, I do feel like I can compete with anybody. Obviously the last three days I could have competed with just about anybody in the world, but growing up I never would have thought I would have a chance to even play on the PGA TOUR,” Straka said. “This is all just a big dream come true."
As it stands Jon Rahm (3,017.98 points), Rory McIlroy (3,003.50 points) and Paul (1,607.00 points) sit in the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Viktor Hovland (252.98 points), Tyrrell Hatton (178.67 points) and Matt Fitzpatrick (149.78 points) in the top three positions on the World Points List.
Click here to see the full rankings.
