Jacob Thorbjørn Olesen (born 21 December 1989) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has won eight times on the European Tour, including the 2016 Turkish Airlines Open and the 2018 Italian Open. Olesen has also represented the Denmark team alongside Søren Kjeldsen which won the 2016 World Cup of Golf and the European team which won the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Professional career Olesen turned professional in 2008. He finished in fourth place on the third tier Nordic League rankings in 2009, having won three tournaments, to graduate to Europe's second tier Challenge Tour for 2010. During his début season he claimed his first Challenge Tour title at The Princess, held in Sweden at the beginning of July. He finished third in the 2010 Challenge Tour ranking, earning him full exemption (category 10b) for the 2011 European Tour.
In December 2010, Olesen tied for second place at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the first tournament of the 2011 European Tour season. This was equaled in June 2011, when Olesen tied for second at the BMW Italian Open in Turin, mostly due to a 10-under-par round of 62 on the final day, but still coming up short by one stroke of Englishman Robert Rock. The following month Olesen finished in a tie for second again at the Alstom Open de France when he bogeyed the last hole to finish one stroke behind Thomas Levet. With this finish, Olesen qualified for The 2011 Open Championship, his first major.
Olesen won the 2012 Sicilian Open. This victory placed him in the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. After the final event of the 2012 season, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai where he finished T21, Olesen moved into the world top-50 for the first time as No. 50 and played the Masters for the first time in 2013.
In the 2013 Masters Tournament, after an opening round of 78, Olesen shot rounds of 70, 68, and 68 to finish at four-under-par 284, good enough for a sixth place tie. His final three rounds of 206 combined were ten-under-par, the best in the tournament. He earned enough money to be eligible for Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour, which he accepted. This allowed him unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the 2013 season.
In 2015, Olesen won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews.
In 2016, Olesen won the Turkish Airlines Open in Turkey. This was part of the Race to Dubai Final Series.
In 2018, Olesen won the Italian Open for his fifth European Tour victory.
In September 2018, Olesen qualified for the 2018 Ryder Cup European team. Europe regained the Ryder Cup, winning by 17½ points to 10½. Olesen went 1–1 including defeating Jordan Spieth in singles (5 and 4).
After four years without winning, Olesen won the Betfred British Masters in May 2022. He finished eagle-birdie on the final two holes to claim a one shot victory over Sebastian Söderberg.
In February 2023, Olesen won the Thailand Classic for his seventh European Tour victory. He shot a final-round 66 to win by four shots ahead of Yannik Paul. In May 2024, Olesen would set the course record at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club with a final round 61 (−10) in the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Personal life On 29 July 2019, Olesen was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a British Airways flight. He was also accused of urinating in a first-class aisle. On 6 August 2019, he was formally charged with sexual assault, being drunk on an aircraft and common assault. He was suspended by the European Tour pending resolution of the criminal charges. The suspension was initially valid until the end of the legal proceedings. In July 2020, the European Tour lifted the suspension because his court date, original scheduled for 11 May 2020, was postponed until December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 8 December 2021, Olesen was cleared of all charges by a court in London.
Olesen supports both F.C. Copenhagen and Manchester United.
Professional wins (15) European Tour wins (8) Legend Race to Dubai finals series (1) Rolex Series (1)Other European Tour (6) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up11 Apr 2012Sicilian Open−15 (68-69-67-69=273)1 stroke Chris Wood226 Oct 2014ISPS Handa Perth International1−17 (64-69-67-71=271)3 strokes Victor Dubuisson34 Oct 2015Alfred Dunhill Links Championship−18 (68-66-65-71=270)2 strokes Brooks Koepka, Chris Stroud46 Nov 2016Turkish Airlines Open−20 (65-62-68-69=264)3 strokes David Horsey, Li Haotong53 Jun 2018Italian Open −22 (65-68-65-64=262)1 stroke Francesco Molinari68 May 2022Betfred British Masters −10 (66-70-69-73=278)1 stroke Sebastian Söderberg719 Feb 2023Thailand Classic −24 (67-67-64-66=264)4 strokes Yannik Paul828 Jan 2024Ras Al Khaimah Championship −27 (69-62-63-67=261)6 strokes Rasmus Højgaard 1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open George CoetzeeLost to birdie on second extra hole
Challenge Tour wins (1) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up14 Jul 2010The Princess−14 (69-66-65-70=270)2 strokes Peter Gustafsson, Bernd Wiesberger
Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12010Mugello Tuscany Open Floris de VriesLost to birdie on second extra hole
Nordic Golf League wins (4) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up122 Oct 2008ECCO Tour Qualification−10 (67-67=134)2 strokes Petter Bocian222 Jan 2009Oliva Nova Open1−1 (74-73-68=215)1 stroke Sean Elliott, Kristian Nielsen329 Jan 2009Open de Quara1−3 (70-70-73=213)Playoff Peter James415 Aug 2009JELD-WEN Masters−9 (71-65-71=207)3 strokes Kristian Nielsen 1Co-sanctioned by the Hi5 Pro Tour
Other wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up127 Nov 2016ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf(with Søren Kjeldsen)−20 (72-60-70-66=268)4 strokes − Li Haotong and Wu Ashun, − Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque, − Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker27 May 2017GolfSixes(with Lucas Bjerregaard)3–1 − Sam Brazel and Scott Hend
Results in major championships Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament20112012201320142015201620172018Masters TournamentT6T44U.S. OpenCUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT9CUTT64CUTT62T12PGA ChampionshipT27T40T30CUTT44T56 Tournament2019202020212022202320242025Masters TournamentT21T58PGA ChampionshipT64CUTT53T33U.S. OpenCUTCUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipT57NTCUTT43CUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied for place NT = no tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 4PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 8U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 6Totals 0 0 0 0 2 4 30 18 Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026The Players ChampionshipCUTT41CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Results not in chronological order before 2015. Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019ChampionshipT53T63T45Match PlayR32R64T38T40InvitationalT48T10T3T27ChampionsT11T6T19T31T7
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied
Team appearances Amateur European Boys' Team Championship (representing Denmark): 2006
Professional World Cup (representing Denmark): 2011, 2013, 2016 (winners), 2018 Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2013 (winners) Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2013 (winners) EurAsia Cup (representing Europe): 2014 Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2018 (winners) Team Cup (representing Continental Europe): 2025
See also 2010 Challenge Tour graduates 2023 Race to Dubai dual card winners 2024 Race to Dubai dual card winners List of golfers with most European Tour wins
References
External links