Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is looking to maintain his international momentum at the Volvo China Open after making a stunning start to his PGA TOUR career last month.
Since claiming his maiden professional victory just over 12 months ago at the Kolkata Challenge, the Dane has been on an almost constant upward trajectory, winning two more times last season on the HotelPlanner Tour to earn instant status on the DP World Tour.
He racked up enough points in just six Back 9 events to move his exemption into Category 10 and he has taken full advantage, with a top ten in his season-opener in Australia and on his Rolex Series debut in Dubai.
He finished second at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and then repeated the feat on his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open last month while playing on an invite.
That got him a second start at the Valspar Championship where he finished in a tie for 22nd and his form in the past year means that he arrives at Enhance Anting Golf Club as the highest-ranked player in the field in just his 23rd DP World Tour start.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Neergaard-Petersen has a fondness for the United States and would love to claim one of the ten dual memberships available this season via the Race to Dubai Rankings.
But this week he is delighted to be back on the DP World Tour after his recent American adventure.
“It’s been good to test myself on American soil. That’s where I see myself in the future,” he said.
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“Obviously it was a dream debut to finish solo second. In the moment you want to get over the line, but a great couple of weeks, even at the Valspar as well. I played solid and had a good finish.
“Honestly I enjoyed (the gap between the Puerto Rico Open and the Valspar). I went back to Dallas and Stillwater, Oklahoma, and to my old college. I saw the new course they are building there that will open in May. I really enjoyed that off week, got to see some friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It was lovely.
“The golf courses over there are quite different from Europe in general. Maybe not so much the first week, but especially the second week. It was a bigger golf course, longer shots, plays tough. I have quite a bit of experience of playing courses like that in college. I think that will help me in the future when I get over there at some point.
“I’m excited to be back on the DP World Tour, it’s a little more familiar, although I haven’t played out here for that long. I played some events last year. It’s nice to be back and see some of the guys I haven’t seen in a little while.”
This week’s Robert Trent Jones Jr-designed course will be a new test for the majority of the field but Neergaard-Petersen insists he is used to that in the early stages of his professional career.
“I feel alright,” he said. “I got here on Monday afternoon. A little bit tired but honestly feeling good, falling asleep at night. I feel like I’m on top of the jetlag already, so I should be ready to go tomorrow morning.
“I played one Challenge Tour event in Hainan, so it’s my first time on mainland China. The course is great, it’s a second shot golf course, plays firm and fast, hopefully get some wind going and make it tough for us.
“I’m probably more used to having to go and learn a new course every week. I think my game travels well across different kinds of courses. It’s more a case of figuring out ‘it’s playing this firm’, ‘the greens are this fast’, then figuring out how to plot my way around. No-one has been here before. I enjoy the test of going to a place you haven’t seen before.”
