Danish Golf Championship: Valimaki the value at 33/1

• Copenhagen hosts for the first time

• Local lad Rasmus looks to shine

• Read my BMW Championship preview

Tournament History

Previously called the Made in HimmerLand, and before that the Made in Denmark, the Danish Golf Championship has been in existence since 2014. But this is only the 11th edition of the event as the 2021 edition was lost to the pandemic.

Frenchman, Frederic Lacroix, defends the title but we're off to another new venue this year.

The Backtee New Course at the HimmerLand Golf and Spa Resort hosted eight of the first nine editions but having visited the Lübker Golf Resort in Aarhus 12 months ago, the Danish Golf Championship will visit the capital of Copenhagen for the first time this time around, taking in the Furesø Golf Club.

Venue

Furesø Golf Klub, Copenhagen, Denmark

Course Details

Par 71, 7,011 yards

The Furesø Golf Club was established in 1974 and was designed by Jan Cederholm. It was renovated in 2015 by Tom Mackenzie and it's one of the country's largest golf clubs with 1,800 members.

Furesø is a parkland track with fescue fairways and bentgrass greens.

It's a flat course with some challenging runoffs around the greens.

Water is in play on eight holes.

Weather

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at midday on Thursday

First 10 Tournament Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2024 - Frederic Lacroix -14 55.054/1 (Lübker Golf Resort)
2023 - Rasmus Hojgaard -13 36.035/1 (playoff)
2022 - Oliver Wilson -21 320.0319/1
2021 - Bernd Wiesberger -21 27.026/1
2020 - Event Cancelled
2019 - Bernd Wiesberger -14 120.0119/1
2018 - Matt Wallace -19 38.037/1 (playoff) (Silkeborg Ry Golfklub)
2017 - Julian Suri -19 80.079/1
2016 - Thomas Pieters -17 14.013/1
2015 - David Horsey -13 120.0119/1
2014 - Marc Warren -9 28.027/1

Is There an Identikit Winner?

Denmark's climate isn't too dissimilar to that endured year after year by the Brits so it's perhaps not surprising that an Englishman and a Scotsman fought out the finish in 2022 and someone from the British Isles finished first or second in each of the first six editions.

An Austrian and an Italian filled the first two places in 2021 but Englishmen Richard Bland and Jordan Smith finished tied for third alongside Jason Scrivener. Three Scotsmen contended last year as Richie Ramsy finished third and Robert MacIntyre and Marc Warren finished tied fourth.

The French were in fanstic form this time last year and they were inspiring eachother week after week so it wasn't a huge surprise that three of the top four were French, although Frederic Lacroiz was the first Frenchman to claim this title.

Could swerving the NEXO Championship prove a big plus?

Given there had been no DP World Tour action since the Open Championship, it's logical to assume that playing at last week's NEXO Championship prior to appearing here would be advantageous. But I'm not convinced.

Last year's winner, Frederic Lacroix, had signposted his wellbeing with a third-place finish in the Czech Masters the week before he won at Lübker but there's a vast difference between last week's layout and this week's parkland track.

Add in the fact that the wind blew for most of last week and it may well be better to arrive in Copenhagen fresh and well-rested.

Will Rasmus enjoy home advantage?

Although he hasn't been in sensational form since finishing fourth at the Hainan Classic in April, the local lad, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is likely to attract plenty of market interest.

We haven't seen the 26-year-old Dane since he missed the cut at the Scottish Open a month ago and that was his fourth weekend off in six starts. He'll be raring to go around his home course and, having swerved last week's wind-affected links test, he'll be well prepared.

In addition to his fourth in China, Neergaard-Petersen, a three-time winner on the HotelPlanner Tour, finished second at both the Qatar Masters and the Puerto Rico Open, as well as 12^th in the US Open and 14^th at the BMW International Open.

He's a class act on the up and it sounds like he's excited about this week.

He said: "I played well at the Danish Golf Challenge earlier in the year (2024), finishing sixth, so to have another good performance on home soil at the Danish Golf Championship (finished 19^th but sat second at halfway) was a real thrill.

"I've only had the chance to play in Denmark a few times since turning professional, but the atmosphere has always been great, and you really want to play well for the home crowds.

"It's very exciting having the chance to play in a DP World Tour event at my home course and I can't wait to see friends and family lining the fairways to cheer me on."

There was a month in-between his second place in Qatar and his second in Puerto Rico, so he's already shown that a month off shouldn't do him any harm.

Valimaki the value

This is a tight looking market, and a strong case can be made for a number of the leaders but I'm happy to scan a bit further down the list to find a Finn who's enjoyed a decent a season the PGA Tour.

A 72 on Sunday at Sedgefield saw Sami Valimaki slip from 13^th to 34^th at the Wyndham Championship and that saw him drop from 86^th to 87^th in the FedEx Cup Standings when he needed a big push in round four to have any chance of getting into the field at last week's FedEx St Jude. But it's still been a fair season for the 27-year-old.

Valimaki's highlights include a seventh place finish in the Myrtle Beach Classic and a fourth at the Houston Open and it's less than a month since he shot 68-67 over the weekend to finish 19^th in the Rocket Classic.

He'll be disappointed to have missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs but after a week off to recharge the batteries, he looks an interesting runner back on the DP World Tour.

Valimaki won the Oman Open back in 2020 on the DP World Tour and he got the better of Jorge Campillo in extra time at the Qatar Masters two years ago, so he'll feel comfortable returning to Europe.

He finished 13^th at the Czech Masters this time last year and fourth two years ago and it's interesting to see he won back-to-back Pro Golf Tour events in August in 2019, so this is a time of year when he's found form.

I like his chances at 33/134.00 on the Sportsbook and I was happy to double him up each-way with my BMW Championship fancy, Cameron Young.

Now read Danish Championship 2025: Form stats for this week's event in northern Europe