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Julian Suri wins first European Tour event at Made in Denmark

By Mike Randleman

AALBORG, DENMARK - AUGUST 25:Julian Suri of The USA hits his tee shot on the first hole during day two of Made in Denmark at Himmerland Golf
AALBORG, DENMARK - AUGUST 25:Julian Suri of The USA hits his tee shot on the first hole during day two of Made in Denmark at Himmerland Golf /
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Julian Suri is checking off the boxes on the way to a successful career with his maiden European Tour win at the Made in Denmark

Sunday at the Made in Denmark brought us a classic battle of a rookie versus a seasoned vet battling down the stretch to win a championship.

Only a six-year difference in age separated Julian Suri, a 26-year-old American and Duke graduate, and 32-year-old Englishman David Horsey. However, Horsey has won four times in nine seasons on the European Tour versus Suri making just his fifth full-fledged European Tour start at Himmerland Golf Resort and Spa.

It was Suri who was unfazed down the stretch, keeping his card bogey-free with clutch pars on Nos. 16-18 to win by one at 19-under-par.

Horsey began the day with a two-stroke lead but began to leak oil right away with a bogey on 1. Suri began to pull away with birdies on 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Suri’s lead was two at the turn, but this Horsey wasn’t out of the race yet.

Horsey bounced back to turn in one-under 35 and birdied 11 and 12 to tie it back up.

Both birdied the 14th before Suri grabbed the lead back with a birdie on 15.

The two, who were the only ones in serious contention down the stretch, arrived to 18 with Suri up one.

Horsey found trouble off the tee and limped in with a triple-bogey to allow Suri to breeze in for victory.

Suri made just six bogeys all week en route to victory. He found some good karma after going through the summer battling airline baggage issues for weeks on end.

His rise to European Tour winner has been a rapid one. Four years removed from a successful senior season where he was ranked No. 31 in the college Golfweek rankings, Suri made a handful of starts on the Challenge Tour in 2016. There, he did enough to extend him status into 2017. This year brought a missed cut to start the season, but then the floodgates were open.

A runner-up in Kenya and a win at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge shot him up the Challenge Tour money list. He found his way into the Lyoness Open on the European Tour and tied for 23rd.

After a return stint to the Challenge Tour, the ever-opportunistic Suri continued to take advantage of his opportunities after years toiling on the mini tours.

Suri qualified for The Open and tied for 16th at the Porsche European Open the week after.

That leads us to Suri’s crowning moment.

The fans came out in full force to the 3,299-person town of Farsø this week. The loudest and warmest applause was saved for countrymen Thomas Bjørn and Thorbjørn Olesen, but Suri was lauded as a worthy champion.

"“It was a blast out there. Especially in that atmosphere with the fans. It was really cool,” Suri said in a European Tour press release. “Everybody is so enthusiastic out there, with such genuine appreciation for the game and spectacle. I just wanted to soak it up as much as I could.”"

Suri projects to land just outside the world top 100 with the win and is No. 60 in the Race to Dubai standings with nine regular season events left.

Not bad for having no top-four tour status just a year ago.

Julian Suri’s win continues American run of success on European Tour

With Julian Suri’s win at the Made in Denmark, the leading country as far as wins go on the European Tour this season is none other than… the U.S.! Suri, a 26-year-old Duke grad from St. Augustine, Fla., became the sixth American to win a European Tour-sanctioned event this season, for seven wins total.

The stars and stripes surpass Spain’s six wins between Sergio García twice, Jon Rahm, Álvaro Quirós, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Adrián Otaegui.

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If this feels like a skewed stat toward the Americans, well, it’s because it is. Jordan Spieth and DJ aren’t all of a sudden playing the Scandinavian Swing or worried about qualifying for Dubai this winter. Their feats at the WGCs and majors count for both the European Tour and PGA Tour.

Suri and Spieth at The Open are the only ones to win on European soil: Harold Varner III won the Australia PGA, Dustin Johnson won the WGC-Mexico Championship and the WGC-Match Play in Texas. Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open in Wisconsin and Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship in North Carolina.

Speaking of Americans, John Daly tied for 10th at 11-under, the 51-year-old’s best finish on either of the major tours in two years. He was in the penultimate pairing in a tie for third before dropping back with a final-round 71.

Next: Thomas Bjørn celebrated at Himmerland

Will Julian Suri follow this up to become a force on the European Tour, or is this a one-hit wonder?

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