Twenty-eight-year-old Swede Jesper Svensson won his maiden DP World Tour title in Singapore by matching the course record and prevailing in a three-hole-playoff.
He shot a 9-under 63 at Laguna National Golf Resort Club to climb the leaderboard to 17-under, where Kiradech Aphibarnrat also finished after 72 holes.
Svensson birdied the 17th and 18th holes to grab the clubhouse lead, while Aphibarnrat made an eagle later to tie.
Then, in the playoff, both birdied the first playoff hole—the par-5 18th—and then exchanged a pair of pars the second time around.
The third time was the charm for Svensson, a DP World Tour rookie. Aphibarnrat air-mailed his third shot into the 18th and thus settled for bogey while the Swede two-putted for par and the victory.
“It’s been a long journey,” Svensson said after the win per the DP World Tour.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25352378/2108897898.jpg)
“To win on my first season out here, I couldn’t have dreamt of it. It’s always been a dream to be a winner on the DP World Tour and to achieve it feels amazing.”
The Swede turned professional in the summer of 2019 and joined the Nordic Golf League, two levels below the DP World Tour in European professional golf. After winning the season finale in 2020, he was promoted to the Challenge Tour, the DP World Tour’s equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour.
He continued to rise up the rankings, finishing 36th at the end of the 2021 Challenge Tour season, which afforded him some playing opportunities on the DP World Tour the following year.
But his first win on the Challenge Tour did not come until May 2023, when he finished one stroke ahead of Branden Stone at the B-NL Challenge Trophy in Holland.
That, coupled with two runner-up finishes late in the year, helped Svensson finish 5th in the Challenge Tour rankings, elevating him to the DP World Tour for 2024. He has since finished runner-up twice, at the Investec South African Open in December and, most recently, at the Bahrain Championship.
“Combined with Challenge Tour last year and the beginning of this season, I’ve had five second-place spots in the last year,” Svensson added.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25352380/2108703851.jpg)
“I really wanted to come out on top here.”
Svensson began his final round five shots off the lead, but quickly made up ground with birdies at the 1st and 2nd. He followed those up with an eagle at the par-5 3rd. Two more birdies at the 6th and 8th holes ensued, the latter being a chip-in.
He then dropped two shots at the 9th and 10th holes, bringing him back to 11-under for the championship.
Yet, Svensson bounced back with birdies on the 12th and 13th, which gave him a one-shot lead.
Then, he hit the shot of the day at the par-5 14th, reaching the green in two as his ball settled eight feet away from the pin. He then poured it in for eagle, and suddenly, Svensson held a three-shot lead.
“On 14, we were thinking about laying up,” Svensson said.
“We both said, ‘No, we’re not finishing second again,’ and it was the best shot of the week.”
The move paid off, as Svensson bogeyed the 15th but finished birdie-birdie to shoot 63. But he needed extra holes to get that first victory, and luckily for him, he prevailed.
Other players in contention included Matthieu Pavon, who finished fifth, and Paul Casey of LIV Golf, who finished solo sixth. Shane Lowry also played, tying for 29th.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
