Who is Jacob Skov Olesen and how he is leading the 2025 British Open

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Jacob Skov Olesen is a surprise co-leader of the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

The 26-year-old Dane bogeyed 18 but signed for 4-under 67, a score matched by China's Haotong Li, England's Matt Fitzpatrick, South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Harris English of the U.S.

Olesen birdied the first hole, strung five pars together, then added a birdie at the par-5 seventh. He made his lone bogey of the day at No. 8 and toured the front nine in 35. He started the back nine with a birdie at 10 and then jumped to 4 under with a 42-foot eagle at the par-5 12th. He made another birdie with a chip-in at 15. But it was the putter that did most of the damage as the Dane sank 146 feet of putts.

If Olesen wasn’t on your bingo card at the start of the week, here’s a little more about him. A left-handed player, he went to college in the United States and had stops at Ranger (Texas) Community College and TCU. He played his final season at Arkansas, earning All-America honors and statistically producing the best season in Razorback history. Asked why he didn't turn pro until age 24, he said, "I just wasn't good enough. I was never in college thinking I'm going to quit college and go pro now because I wasn't at the level that was required."

Olesen’s biggest claim to fame is being the first golfer from Denmark to win the British Amateur, which he captured at Ballyliffin in Ireland. In the final match, he quickly turned a two-hole lunchtime lead into a six-hole advantage and eventually won 4 and 3.

“I’m really proud to be the first Danish winner,” he said. “I guess that’s something I’ll have forever, which is super cool.”

Olesen played in the 2024 Open at Royal Troon. He made 18 straight pars in the second round to make the cut and finished tied for 60th. He opted to turn professional late last year, forfeiting his right to starts at the Masters and the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Asked about how he made that determination, he said, "it would have been a different decision if I was 19 at the time. But also getting out on DP (World Tour) has always been a dream of mine. It's what I watched all the time growing up, Thomas Bjorn, Anders Hansen, those Danish guys before us that are there now, so it's always been a dream. I had already made the decision before even going to second stage of Q-school that if I got through, it would be a no-brainer to turn pro," he said.

Jacob Skov Olesen caddied for his girlfriend when she won a LET event

Olesen advanced to the final stage of qualifying for the DP World Tour and finished 21st, giving him access to the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour. He has registered three top-10 finishes this season. Last week, he made his PGA Tour debut at the Isco Championship and missed the cut. One more interesting tidbit on the Dane: his girlfriend is LET pro Darcey Harry and he caddied for her when she won her first pro event earlier this year. 

Olesen earned his spot in the field through Open Championship Final Qualifying but he didn't exactly arrive in County Antrim oozing confidence.

"The way I was playing, I wouldn't say it was in the cards," he said of his form entering this week. "I would say I always feel like if I play my game that I can do well, especially around here, around links courses. Kind of shape it around with some good short game as well. But yeah, it hasn't been very good golf the last couple of months. I've been driving it well, but my approach game has been quite awful to say the least."

But Olesen inserted new irons in the bag this week and it's one of the reasons that he's emerged as an early contender at the 153rd Open.