AMGEN IRISH OPEN

September 10, 2024

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

Royal County Down GC

Quick Quotes

Q. I imagine a whirlwind couple of days but your first-ever DP World Tour event as a full card member. How does that feel?

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: It feels incredible. I don't think it's quite sunken in. As you said it's been a quick turnaround. Flew back from Munich to Copenhagen Sunday night. I was in Denmark for 11 hours before getting on a flight yesterday to get over here. Unfortunately no clubs. But we'll make do.

Q. Could you have imagined teeing up this week at the Irish Open when you started this year?

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: No, not really. Not at all. Obviously I had a goal to win once and to get my card by the end of the year but as I said on Sunday, I couldn't have I imagined this going this way, winning three times in a span of four or five months. I mean, it's over -- I'm just over the moon, really. I could never have imagined it has gone as well as it did.

Q. In Germany, seemed like it had to be the perfect round and you got it done.

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Yeah, it was actually funny, I was having dinner with one of the Danish guys earlier that week, Wednesday night and I played there last year, so I know the course can play really tricky when it firms up.

So I told him, I had a hard time seeing anyone shoot 8-under or lower this week. But I think even then, I thought after my third round, I played really well. Could definitely make a couple more putts. If you hit it close and you have a hot putter, it's probably doable.

I also knew going into Sunday that it would take something special like 8-under to have any kind of chance of getting it done.

Q. Your card locked up for this year and next year, what does that do for the mindset to the remainder of this year? Is it a free hit now for you?

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: It kind of is. I'm just going to really enjoy myself, and obviously always it's like any other week. You go in and you hope to play good. But I'm really going to be enjoying myself, and you know, if it doesn't go the way I want, those events, at least I've got everything shored up for next year.

So I'm just really going to enjoy it and take it all in.

Q. You're the first guy to take advantage of that three-win rule in 2017. Is that firmly on the agenda --

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: I think that's been -- probably did not play as well as I might have been able to. You get into that spot, you keep pushing and you play worse and you keep pushing harder. I think what's been key for me really is just to keep putting in the work and trusting that the results were going to come.

Q. Quite a unique situation because quite a few of you are sitting on two wins this year. Are you going to be cheering on the guys now to get their third?

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Absolutely that would be awesome. I've been pushing hard and practising at home trying to make sure I can stay in that top spot. So getting it done last week was really the result of, I'd say, at least plenty of months of hard work. I finally felt like it clicked in that final round.

Q. Obviously The Challenge Tour is great to learn your trade out here in the professional ranks. How much can you attest to that this year that it's helped you move now to the main tour?

RASMUS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Obviously, yeah, it's been huge for me. I've only been professional for like 14, 15 months.

So I feel like I've learned so much out there. Like I think it's a great way to move up the ranks. Like you kind of learn because the setup of the week. Obviously there's more spectators; it's a bigger setup out here. But the way every week is going, you've got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practise rounds and that kind of thing. You kind of learn how to be a professional and I think I've matured playing on The Challenge Tour, and I think that's going to help me also moving forward.