Turning professional in golf is often described as a leap of faith, but for Jacob Skov Olesen the decision was straightforward – even if it forfeited his right to starts at Augusta National and Oakmont Country Club.
After securing his DP World Tour card through Qualifying School in November, he said goodbye to his amateur status and hello to the paid ranks.
In doing so, he missed out on invites to the Masters Tournament and U.S. Open which he earned through his historic win at The Amateur Championship 12 months ago – the first ever by a Dane.
The belief was his time in those elevated atmospheres would come his way and based on his start to life as a professional, there is every reason to suggest that will be the case sooner rather than later.
Eight months into his rookie season, Olesen has registered three top tens to underscore his potential and prove that the 26-year-old was right not to wait – even if watching the Masters on television was tough.
“Having a good start to the season here on the DP World Tour made it a little easier to watch from the sidelines because that kind of proved that I made the right decision,” he said.
“Of course I wanted to be there, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.”
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Before joining the paid ranks, Olesen did make his Major Championship debut at The Open Championship as he was one of four amateurs to make the cut.
He did so, remarkably, with 18 consecutive pars during his second round at Royal Troon.
A month later, he finished in a tie for fifth at the Danish Golf Championship after playing in the final group in the final round on home soil, before making the cut at the Omega European Masters.
“I was pretty chilled and calm,” he said of his outlook going into the season.
“I showed to myself in all three events that I am good enough and if I play my good golf, I could be in a final group like I was in Denmark.
“So, that kind of gave me some confidence and good thoughts about how I could play as a professional with playing rights.”
Standing 56th on the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Arkansas University graduate has gone from starting out aiming to improve his category on the DP World Tour to setting his sights on qualifying for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
“Now, having had a pretty solid start to the season, I have switched my goal over to Dubai and getting to the final,” he said.
“I still want to win too and give myself more opportunities, like I did in Mauritius for example.”
As he alludes to, Olesen was in the mix for victory at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open before a closing 73 saw him drop from third to a tie for ninth on the final day.
But it was a positive learning curve, with Olesen adding further top tens in South Africa and China to show his game can adapt to different course challenges.
“I was not worried about my game transitioning to the different settings and different needs, but obviously it's nice to prove to yourself that you can fly all the way to China and finish top ten,” he said.
With a break in DP World Tour action this week, many players will be taking time away from the course but not Olesen.
For the second week running, he will be caddying for girlfriend and fellow professional golfer Darcey Harry after she won her first Ladies European Tour title in Belgium with his support on the bag.
“She was in Belgium with me for the Soudal Open for the weekend and I wanted to do the same for her,” he said of the opportunity which was too good to turn down during a quiet spell in his schedule.
“She’d just said goodbye to her caddie so needed a different one and asked if I wanted to help her out and I was happy to do that.”
But it won’t be long before Olesen is back on the fairways with a club in his hand rather than a bag over his shoulders as the European Swing continues with the Italian Open, and he is hopeful the experience will give him a new perspective on the course.
“There are obviously lots of differences to the demands of men's and women's game in the way they and we go about our golf," he said.
“From what I experienced, they are more willing to listen to the caddie and like to rely more on their caddie’s information than most men – me included!”
So far this season, 13 players have won for the first time on the DP World Tour – including fellow Q-School graduate Ryggs Johnston – giving belief to Olesen that he too can make his own breakthrough.
“It’s been pretty cool to see the amount of first-time winners and younger players get it done so it fills you with hope and desire and motivation that hopefully one week this year I can do as they have done,” he said.
