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Jacob Skov Olesen is one of the surprises of the first round at the British Open, as the young lefty opened his tournament with a 4-under 67.
Olesen is one of the more inexperienced players in the field, as he has only played in one major prior to this appearance. However, he has experience playing links golf on the DP World Tour, so it's not a total surprise that he was able to get out to a hot start.
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Despite entering the tournament as the 354th-ranked golfer in the world according to OWGR, Olesen finds himself at the top of the Open Championship leaderboard. Here's what you need to know about the young Dane.
LIVE: Follow British Open leaderboard updates from Royal Portrush
Where is Jacob Skov Olesen from?
Jacob Skov Olesen was born in Roskilde, Denmark but currently resides in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital city that is just 40 minutes away from Olesen's hometown. Growing up, Olesen worked as a part-time groundskeeper at the Royal Copenhagen Golf Club, which helped him earn money to jumpstart his career.
Additionally, Olesen has spent time in the United States in his life, three separate colleges in the United States including TCU and Arkansas.
How old is Jacob Skov Olesen?
Olesen was born on May 28, 1999, which makes him 26 years-old for the 2025 British Open.
Are Jacob Skov Olesen and Thorbjorn Olesen related?
While they have the same last name, and are both from Denmark, Thorbjorn Olesen and Jacob Skov Olesen are not related. Still, they have enough in common that they will undoubtedly be throughout their careers.
Jacob Skov Olesen career history
Olesen had a very successful career as a junior and an amateur, winning several tournaments between 2016 and 2024. Most recently, he won the Amateur Championship in the United Kingdom last year, becoming the first Dane to win the event in its history.
Olesen attended Rangor College from 2019-2020 before transferring to TCU for 2020-2023. Then, in 2023-24, he attended the University of Arkansas as a graduate student, where he made the All-SEC team and participated in the Arnold Palmer Cup for the international team.
In November of 2024, Olesen turned pro on the DP World Tour when he completed the European Qualifying School. So far in 2025, Olesen has played in 16 tournaments for the DP World Tour, making 10 cuts and finishing as high as seventh.
MORE BRITISH OPEN NEWS:
- Full course details on Royal Portrush, home to 2025 British Open
- Explaining the biggest differences between links golf vs. regular golf
- Complete history of every British Open winner
Jacob Skov Olesen major history
Olesne has only played in one major before, as he participated in the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon and finished tied for 60th. Olesen earned the spot when he won the United Kingdom's Amateur Championship a month before.
While Olesen also earned spots in the Masters and the U.S. Open, the Dane turned those down in favor of going pro, as he could only play in those tournaments as an amateur. Additionally, Olesen had to qualify just to return to the British Open this year, which he did successfully.
"I'm happy to be back," Olesen said. "Once you get the taste for it like I did last year you want to play in The Open again. I had a really fun week at Royal Troon."
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