By Mathieu Wood
Over recent years, the depth of Nordic talent to emerge onto the Major stage has made a big impression, and rightly so.
Well, at this week’s US PGA Championship the contingent has its newest member. Welcome, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
At 25, after a remarkable rise in the professional ranks, the Dane will make his Major Championship debut at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
While yet to land his first win on either the DP World Tour or the PGA TOUR, the Dane is widely acknowledged to be one of the game’s emerging stars.
Since claiming his maiden professional title in March last year at the Kolkata Challenge, he has been on an almost constant upward trajectory, winning two more times on the HotelPlanner Tour last season to earn instant promotion to the DP World Tour.
His stock has only grown since, finishing runner-up twice on golf’s two biggest tours, alongside three other top tens since the turn of the year, leading to this landmark.
"Playing in a Major this year was one of the big, big goals alongside my other aims for the season as a whole," said Neergaard-Petersen.
"With the Majors being quite early in the calendar year, I knew I had to get off to a good start to get myself some opportunities to play in Majors.
"I envisaged at the start of the year that if I could put in some good performances, that it was something I was going to be able to do.
"I'm just super excited and happy to get the chance. It’s going to be great, I'm really looking forward to it."
Speaking to the DP World Tour from his home in Denmark last week, there is a calmness to this comparatively new kid on the block.
Confident in his ability, without a hint of arrogance, he believes he will one day belong among the very best.
And you’d have little reason to doubt him. Finishing second in both Qatar and the Dominican Republic prove his game is equipped for the international stage.
"I have a lot of confidence in the fact that I feel like my game travels well across the globe," he said.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Neergaard-Petersen is perhaps more relaxed than most Europeans might be ahead of competing in a US-based Major.
"The four Majors are the best fields in golf," he added.
"If you ask me, the PGA Championship is probably the one where you have the strongest field.
"I feel like the game is trending and it's been nice to have a week at home, to get ready both mentally and physically and then go over there and hopefully put in a good performance.
"Having played in college, that gives me some kind of advantage in terms of it being my first Major.
"I don't anticipate it being completely new to me because I have played that kind of championship-style golf course before."
Taking inspiration from Åberg
Neergaard-Petersen is one of nine players from either Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland or Iceland in the field for one of golf’s four most prestigious tournaments.
No longer a region described as golf’s hinterlands, the Nordic countries – particularly those in Scandinavia – boast a strength in number in the men’s game chasing international success.
While others before him from the region have gone on to become Ryder Cup stalwarts, perhaps most notably countryman Thomas Bjørn, the success of Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg and the Højgaard twins has firmly placed it at the forefront of golf’s global landscape.
In the case of Åberg, who became the first player to be selected for a Ryder Cup without having played in a Major, his meteoric rise to acclaim has served as a source of inspiration for Neergaard-Petersen.
“Ludvig went to Texas Tech, which is in the same conference as Oklahoma State, where I went to school and we played a bunch against each other in college, especially the last couple of years over there,” he said.
“So, being able to see his start as a professional and how he's been able to just break through immediately has given me a lot of motivation and belief.
“I competed with him, so I know if he can do it, I believe that I have what it takes to be able to do something similar.
“So just taking confidence in that and then just focusing on trying to get a little bit better every day and then over time I think I'm going to like where I'm ending up.”
Looking up to Hovland
Another player serving as a catalyst for Neergaard-Petersen's progression is fellow Oklahoma State graduate Hovland, who like Åberg is an established top ten player in the world.
Two years younger than former amateur number one Hovland, he caught up with the Norwegian at the Valspar Championship, where the Ryder Cup star made a long-awaited return to the winner’s circle.
"When I spend time in the States, I spend a lot of time with Viktor," he explained.
"I was lucky enough that we overlapped. My first year in college was his last year before turning pro.
"The thing that I admire the most about him is the fact that he hasn't changed one bit since college.
"Like, even with all the success he's had in his career already, he's still the same guy and always happy to help if I have questions and stuff.
"So, he's really a guy that I look up to a lot in terms of the values he brings to the table and just being true to who he is."
Expectations stay the same despite strong start to year
In your first full season on the DP World Tour, it can often be a challenge to know how best to manage expectations.
While Neergaard-Petersen – who rose to a career-high 72nd in the world last month – has perhaps opened certain doors sooner than expected, his primary objectives have not altered.
“I still have the goal that I want to win this season on the DP World Tour, so that hasn't changed,” he said.
“I still want to play in Majors. I wanted to see if I could crack the top 50 in the world ranking and that hasn't changed.
"I’m just trying to be myself and do my thing and then I have faith that's good enough and that's the good way for me to do things."
And something he hopes will help him on the way is a growing understanding of what helps him perform to his best.
Quick learning curve as a pro on HotelPlanner Tour
In what was his first full year as a professional, he played in 27 events across both the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour, including six weeks in a row at the tail end of the campaign as he made a quick impression on golf’s Global Tour.
"Having that season on the HotelPlanner Tour last year really taught me a lot about life as a professional," he said.
"There's a bunch of things that when you're an amateur golfer, you don't necessarily think about on a week-to-week basis in terms of how you prepare best and how you make sure you stay fresh on longer stretches.
"I feel like this year, so far, I've been able to draw a bit on the experience of that. Knowing that my sweet spot is playing three to four weeks in a row and then having some time off and just being able to get the best out of myself."
While it is often common for young players to play as often as possible, Neergaard-Petersen knows he needs to balance his workload.
"After I won my third title (on the HotelPlanner Tour), it was one of those things where now I've got a bunch of chances to go play on the DP World Tour with really nothing to lose," he added.
"I made the decision that if at some point I felt like I was so out of gas that I couldn't compete, then obviously I would take a break, but I kept playing well.
"But by the end, I was both emotionally and physically drained that I wasn't able to be 100 per cent coming into the final rounds of those tournaments.
"If I want to get across the line, I know I have to perform at my very best, and I have to be fresh, both physically and mentally, to have what it takes on the weekends.
"I just start valuing rest more than necessarily preparation and playing as many tournaments as possible. I'm in a position where I would rather play four or five events fewer and be 100 per cent ready every time I tee it up."
Making his mark during his first DP World Tour season 🤝🏼
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 29, 2025
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is this month’s Player in Focus, presented by @DP_World 🎤 pic.twitter.com/UI0Bhm8nKH
Working that out so soon into his professional career is a sign of his growing maturity.
It certainly appears to be paying dividends, carding rounds of 65, 66 or 67 in each of the four events in which he has made the cut in so far this season on the DP World Tour.
So, for a player whose accuracy off the tee is an attribute, what has pleased him most about his game so far this year?
"Just the level of consistency that I've started to show," he said.
"I had a couple of missed cuts early, but since then I feel I've been very consistent.
"And then I've been very good on Sundays, which is always a good thing. I don't feel like I'm pressing.
"I haven't had a week yet where I feel like I've been able to put together four really good rounds, which is probably what's going to be needed to take it to the next level.
"Overall, I’m just really pleased with the level and consistency. Just putting in a good finish week in, week out."
Ryder Cup 'a dream' but a lot of golf to be played
Such is his form in 2025, his name has understandbly been mentioned as a contender for selection in Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup team.
While Vice Captain Edoardo Molinari has been one to sing his praises, Neergaard-Petersen is not allowing his mind to drift too far ahead.
Having played at the Team Cup in January, the US PGA Championship provides another ideal stage to show his ability and temparement.
"Obviously, that would be a dream come true," said Neergaard-Petersen on the possibility of featuring in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
"But I also know that to be even in consideration for that team by September, I'm going to have to put in a lot of good finishes and even better finishes than I have already.
"So, for me it's just head down and focus on just getting a little bit better all the time and then trying to just keep stacking up good finishes.
"There's a lot of good golf to be played for me to make that happen and be on the team.
"So, from now on until then I'm just focused on trying to go out every week and perform as well as I possibly can."
