Top-20 European players to watch out for in 2012: Part-13
Anders Hansen
Official World Golf Rankings: 34
Race to Dubai Rankings: 7
European Tour wins in 2011: 0
One of the top-ranked Danish golfers, Anders Hansen had an amazing season this year. Although the 41-year-old Dane was not able to pull in a victory on either side of the Atlantic, his consecutive strong performances earned him a high of 7th on the Race to Dubai Rankings and a 34th on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Born in Sønderborg, Denmark, Hansen turned professional in 1995, at a time when golf was still an “elite sport” in Denmark and had little to do with other mainstream sports.
He joined the European Tour the next year but had to struggle in the initial few years to rise to the top.
Hansen carded his first professional victory at the Volvo PGA Championship in 2002, posting a comprehensive total of 19-under 269, five strokes better than the nearest contenders, Colin Montgomerie and Eduardo Romero.
The sturdy Dane managed to stay in the top-60 in the Order of Merit from the years 2000 to 2011.
He also had the distinction to surge to the top-25 on the OWGR, making him the highest ranked Danish golfer in history.
Out of the four professional wins, Hansen has won three of them on the European Tour. He has also won twice on the South African Sunshine Tour and went on to defeat Char Schwartzel at Vodacom Championship in 2009.
Hansen started off the 2011 season posting a strong runner-up landing at Omega Dubai Desert Classic, where he finished for 10-under 278.
He posted another thrilling finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, his highest in any of the WGC events.
Moreover, he finished for a joint third, three strokes behind the winner Nick Watney. He pulled his best major finish in his career, an outright third at the PGA Championship in Atlanta, surging to an all-time high of number seven on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Hansen missed the cut at the coveted Masters earlier in the year and also at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy.
He posted another impressive runner-up finish at Open de Espana in May and went over to pull in yet another runner–up’s spot at Saab Wales Open.
Hansen opted to stay out of contention at the US Open Championship at Congressional and returned to post a joint 22nd at the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges.
Out of 22 appearances in the year 2011 on the European Tour, Hansen missed the halfway cut in five of them, pulling in five top-10 and thirteen top-25 finishes, earning a total of € 2,074,366 in prize money.
He closed the season with a scoring average of 70.47. Hansen will start off the new season with a considerable form and spirit.
He has been struggling to bag his first major title for a long time and will be aiming to clinch one this year. Hansen is a University of Houston graduate and currently resides in Zürich, Switzerland.
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