European Tour Power Rankings: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
By Matt Coles
Coming in at No.9 on our Power Rankings for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week is the third-youngest player ever to win a European Tour event, Rasmus Højgaard.
The Dane took victory at the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open in December, beating out Renato Paratore and Antoine Rozner in a playoff, winning with a birdie as he came down 18 for the fourth time on Sunday afternoon.
At just 18 years of age, Højgaard became the quickest player from his country to win on the European Tour, doing so in just his fifth event, and he also topped his brother Nicolai, whose best finish came at the KLM Open in September, where he finished runner-up.
Although the Dane failed to make the cut at last week’s South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg, he moves up inside the top 200 for the first time in his career, and he now sits at his highest ever placing in the Official World Golf Rankings of 189th.
Højgaard graduated to the European Tour on a full-time basis after finishing in a tie for 13th at the Challenge Tour Grand Final in November and has already become a star in the making.
The youngster surprised the field in Mauritius and he now sits 3rd on the Race to Dubai leaderboard. Could he surprise the world again with a massive win in Abu Dhabi?