Horsey’s Made in Denmark: Talking points

What we learned as David Horsey claimed the Made in Denmark tournament

David Horsey won the Made in Denmark
David Horsey won the Made in Denmark
(Image credit: Getty Images)

David Horsey of England held off the chasing pack to win the Made in Denmark tournament, here's what we learned at the event.

David Horsey of England held off the chasing pack to win the Made in Denmark tournament at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort, his fourth European Tour title.

Horsey took the lead with a first round of 63 and he maintained his advantage with one round to play, the Englishman went into Sunday a stroke ahead of Terry Pilkadaris from Australia.

Pilkadaris briefly overtook Horsey on the front nine but the Australian stumbled with two bogeys at the end of his front nine and a double bogey on the 15th.

Horsey was two ahead with three to play but he made the job of securing victory more difficult by three putting the 16th from eight feet. That gave Soren Kjeldsen a chance. At that stage the Dane was just one behind, playing ahead of Horsey.

But when Kjeldsen bogeyed the last, Horsey’s advantage was two again and he was able to par the last to take the title by two shots.

"I was a little bit disappointed with myself on 16, but managed to regroup and focus coming down those last couple of holes. I left myself a very tough putt on 17 but to par the last as well was perfect," said Horsey

4 Talking points from the Made in Denmark

1 - David Horsey’s wire-to-wire victory was the fourth of his career on the European Tour. The 30-year-old first tasted success on the circuit in the BMW International Open of 2010. He also won the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco in 2011 and the Russian Open of 2014. He hadn’t enjoyed a stellar season to this point, with only one top-10 finish on Tour prior to this week. The victory has pushed him to 56th on the Race to Dubai standings and into the top 160 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

2 - Kristoffer Broberg enjoyed a fabulous final day at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort. The Swede fired a course-record 62 to climb the board and end the week in a tie for second place. He started the day in a tie for 52nd. Broberg beat the champion David Horsey by 11 shots on the final day.

3 - Home favourite Soren Kjeldsen was cheered on by incredible crowds on the final day. There were 24,112 fans through the gates on Sunday and a total of 86,498 through the week. The Dane felt he let a couple of shots slip on Sunday. He bogeyed the final hole and missed makeable birdie putts on the 11th and 14th. "I felt like I did all the hard work to get myself in position, but I slipped a bit at the end. It wasn't easy at all. I'm pleased with how I played but I'm desperately unhappy about not finishing it off,” he said.

Soren Kjeldsen on shot shaping and hitting the draw:

4 - While U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love enjoyed a winning week in the States, European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke also got himself into a good position on Sunday. He made three birdies in his first six to reach nine-under-par in Denmark – in sight of the leaders. But, unfortunately, things then went a little wrong for the Northern Irishman. Six bogeys over the following eight holes saw him drop right back to three-under and an eventual tie for 44th.

Made in Denmark Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort Aug 20-23 Purse: €1,500,000, par 71

1    David Horsey (Eng)    63    67    68    73    271    €250,000 T2    Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 72    69    70    62    273    €99,790 T2    Daniel Gaunt (Aus)    69    67    71    66    273    €99,790 T2    Soren Kjeldsen (Den)    66    71    68    68    273    €99,790 T2    Terry Pilkadaris (Aus)    66    68    65    74    273    €99,790 T6    Bradley Dredge (Wal)    66    68    70    70    274    €42,150 T6    Richard Green (Aus)    68    65    70    71    274    €42,150 T6    Paul Lawrie (Sco)        65    72    68    69    274    €42,150 T6    Mads Sogaard (Den)    68    68    69    69    274    €42,150 10    John Parry (Eng)        66    67    69    73    275    €42,150    

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?