Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen produced a remarkable comeback in more ways than one, as he took home the British Masters title on Saturday afternoon.
Olesen was two shots behind Sebastian Soderbegh after 16 holes, but produced a sensational eagle-birdie finish to take home his first title since being found not guilty of sexual assault in his court case last December.
Olesen had taken a three shot lead into the final round at the Belfry, but was four over for the day with just two holes to play, and ‘bottle job’ accusations seemingly in bound.
However, two monstrous putts on the last two holes gave him the outright win and propelled him from 376th to 173rd in the world rankings.
Miraculous from Olesen! Perfect pace👏 pic.twitter.com/beL1xirDzh
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) May 8, 2022
UNBELIEVEABLE FROM OLESEN!!!!
Thorbjorn Olesen wins The British Masters 2022 🎉pic.twitter.com/USWp7SNzhN— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 8, 2022
Olesen had been one of the top players in Europe, once ranked as high as 33rd in the world, and was a part of the 2018 Ryder Cup winning team.
However, his golfing hopes and dreams came crashing down when he went on a shocking drunken and sleeping pill induced rampage on a British Airways flight in 2019 after the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
On the flight were fellow pros such as Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, where Olesen was seen grabbing a woman’s breast and urinating on a passenger’s seat among other acts of debauchery.
In court, Olesen acknowledged his behaviour, but claimed that he was not in control of his body after taking ‘dodgy’ sleeping pills, along with a mixture of alcohol.
Following his acquittal he was extremely apologetic in his statement:
"I want to apologise wholeheartedly to everyone on board the flight from [Nashville] to London on July 29th 2019, who was affected by my behaviour.
"I do not remember anything that happened after take-off, but I am embarrassed and ashamed by the account of my actions that was outlined during the trial.
"My behaviour was completely out of character and nothing like this has ever happened to me before or since.
"My actions resulted from taking powerful sleeping pills I had not taken before and my sole intent was to ensure I managed to sleep on a transatlantic flight after an exhausting playing schedule.
"I have paid a very heavy price for my mistake.
"This case has had a devastating impact on me personally, on my family, and on my career".
To say that it had an impact on his career in an understatement as he dropped as low as 509th in the world rankings, and lost numerous sponsorship deals, and he now faces the challenge of continuing this form and winning back the support and trust of the fans.
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