Home hero Rasmus Højgaard made a stunning start to his title defence, firing a 65 to take a two-shot lead on day one of the 2024 Denmark Golf Championship.
Last summer, Højgaard made history, defeating Nacho Elvira in a six-hole play-off at HimmerLand to become the tournament's first Danish champion.
To celebrate the DP World Tour's tenth anniversary, this year's tournament moved to the Lubbock Golf Resort, but the change of venue did not slow down Hoijgaard, who won the leaderboard in one fell swoop.
Starting from the 10th tee on Thursday morning, Hoijgaard made three birdies on the front nine, followed by a brilliant eagle, two birdies and a bogey after the turn to finish six under.
The afternoon was difficult due to wet and windy conditions, with no one able to catch Hojgaard, with his closest challengers being Frederic LaCroix, Jannik de Bruyn and Sam Jones, all of whom finished in first place at four under.
Four-time DP World Tour champion Hoijgaard opened with a close birdie on the 10th hole and followed it up with another from a similar distance on the 12th.
He then seized the opportunity on the par-3 15th hole, teeing the ball about a foot from the hole and easily hitting it into the hole.
Hoijgaard played a long par on the 17th hole to keep his score clean, then made a remarkable eagle on the first hole to jump to five under.
After making five straight pars, he holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole, but gave up the shot with his first bogey of the day on the eighth.
Hoijgaard ended his round with a brilliant performance, successfully getting up from the thick grass next to the bunker and finally getting a birdie.
Top of the leaderboard: Defending champion 👌
Rasmus Højgaard opened with a 65 to take the lead. #DenmarkGolf pic.twitter.com/5a6vrRsfpS
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 22, 2024
“I'm pretty happy with it,” he said. “It wasn't easy but I managed to keep the ball in the field for the most part and hit some nice putts.”
Asked about playing on home soil, Hojgaard added: “I really enjoyed it. I thought the support was pretty good for a game on a Thursday morning.
“I've been enjoying playing at home. I'm looking forward to coming home tonight, having a nice dinner and sleeping in my own bed.”
Scot Marc Warren hit a great shot on the par-3 seventh hole, holed out from 140 yards with a 50° wedge.
