Marcus Helligkilde

In this episode Craig is joined by 3x Challenge Tour winner in the calendar year of 2021 & 3x Nordic Golf League winner Marcus Helligkilde. Marcus joins us en route to do some work before the DP World Tour returns in Northern Ireland next week at Galgorm! A Turkish Amateur Champion at 19 years of age Marcus would also play as part of Team Denmark with John Axelsen at El Camaleon in Cancun which is the home of the Mayakoba (Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Bob MacIntyre, Grant Forrest & Maverick McNealy were part of the 2016 Eisenhower Trophy). Marcus is also a 2 time European Amateur Team Championship participant! Marcus would turn pro in 2017 and would make limited starts on Nordic Golf League before finding his feet in 2018 with a whole host of top 10 finishes finally resulting in winning his first title as a pro at 2018 Ekerum Oland Open on the Nordic Golf League. In 2019 Marcus would gain a Challenge Tour card but would struggle throughout the season dropping back down to Nordic Golf League in 2020 where it wouldn't take him long to gain a 2nd title on the NGL at Lumine Hills Open just before COVID hit. During COVID Marcus would keep fresh and plugging away winning Danish National Open then returning with a 4th in Sweden which would help him gain Challenge Tour Card for 2021. Season 2021 would start off with a win at ECCO Spanish Masters on NGL (3rd title) then make the weekend at both Africa events on the Challenge Tour followed up by a 2nd placed finish at Range Servant Open then a good finish of T25th at Made in Himmerland on the DP World Tour would lead up to a first win on the Challenge Tour in August of 2021 at Vierumaki Finnish Challenge defeating Jesper Svensson to clinch his maiden title. Another 2nd at B-NL Trophy would follow before his 2nd win at Swiss Challenge winning at an impressive -25, another 2nd would occur at Costa Brava Challenge before the Grand Finals in Mallorca would see Marcus win Grand Tour Final & Challenge Tour player of the year becoming the first player to win 3 times in a Challenge Tour season & gaining a DP World Tour card for the first time! Marcus would start off 2022 season slow before finding something in Qatar finishing T12th at Qatar Masters. An injury layoff for 2 months would halt his season before returning at Irish Open then finishing T8th at Barbasol & T13th at Barracuda in the States! A 4th place finish at Galgorm in Northern Ireland would be his best finish on the DPWT which would help Marcus keep his tour card for 2023. 2023 has been consistent season for Marcus currently 57th in R2D Ranking at time of recording with a 2nd placed finish at Korea Championship helping his cause. With DP World Tour season resuming next week I ask Marcus how he feels coming into next week's Northern Ireland event. A talented and upcoming player from Denmark, Marcus has a big future ahead! Thanks Marcus for coming on & wish you the best! Enjoy!