By Mathieu Wood
Lucas Bjerregaard considered giving up golf earlier this year but the support of his family kept him motivated and he continued his recent good form to secure a place at the halfway stage of the Betfred British Masters presented by Sir Nick Faldo.
The Danish player won the DP World Tour in 2017 and 2018 before making headlines by defeating Tiger Woods in the quarterfinals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play the following year.
However, this week is only his tenth appearance on the DP World Tour since losing his card in 2022, when he made just nine cuts in 28 starts.
After struggling on the European Challenge Tour last season, Bjerregard has rebounded with four consecutive top-10 finishes, most recently at the Denmark Golf Championship on home soil, where he tied for second.
The performance was the continuation of three good finishes on the Challenge Tour, and the good momentum seemed to continue at the Belfry, where he shot a six-under 66 in the second round to finish four shots behind halfway leader Tyrrell Hatton.
When asked about the challenges he has faced in recent years, Bjerregaard said in an interview Green Room: “My confidence is definitely not as high as it was at its peak.
“So, it was tough, for sure. I felt very alone. I felt very lonely, searching for answers and finding nothing.
“The more I try, the less success I have.”
Bjerregard suffered a back injury at the start of the year which caused him to miss the first four events of the Challenge Tour in South Africa as well as other tournament opportunities.
“It was a very dark period and I thought maybe I’d like to do something else besides golf,” the world No. 441 recalled.
After starting, he finished in the top 20 three times in his first seven tournaments, then had three consecutive top 10s in July and August, most recently at the Denmark Golf Championship on home soil, where he challenged for the championship before finishing tied for second.
A week later, the 33-year-old shot a six-under-par 66 (even including a double bogey) to move atop the leaderboard and once again look to return to the DP World Tour winner’s circle.
He added: “I feel like I had kind of given up on playing and this helped me be able to go out there and not worry too much about playing.”
Despite the odds, Bjerregard, who won his first DP World Tour title in 2013 through Q-School, said the support of his family and friends gave him confidence he could recreate his past success.
Asked what gave him the confidence to keep going, he said: “Probably my wife and kids. Most of the things I do are for them. They've always supported me. I think it would be wrong to give up now.”
“My wife has been there for me through all of this, and she believed in me despite what we've been through as a family, and I also have a group of good people in my family who believed in me and helped me in any way they could, and I think I owe it to them.”
