Despite a strong showing from the American contingent, the Nordic run of dominance on the NEXT Golf Tour continued in Round 3 as Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen became the fifth Dane in nine events to card a victory.
An eagle on the finishing hole at the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course helped the first-year DP World Tour professional break a six-way tie at nine under and earned him $50,000 — the largest pay check ever for a professional indoor golf event.
"In golf, you don't know when your next payday is gonna be,” Gøth-Rasmussen said. “So any time you can get a check like that, it's important and such a relief."
The group of five runners-up ($14,244 each) included DP World Tour veteran Wil Besseling of Netherlands, Bjarki Pétursson of Iceland, William Östlund of Sweden, and a pair of Americans: Chris Green and Vince India. Green is the Director of Instruction at Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois. India, who also tied for the lead in the most greens-in-regulation side game, made 22 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour last year.
Round 3 was the first “elevated” event of Season 2, marking the transition from automatic to manual putting and featuring a record-high purse of $226,300. The mixed-field event included 763 players from 40 countries. The total purse included $30,000 in prizes for in-round side games and top player submissions on Instagram.
Following the close of the 10-day playing window at midnight on Sunday, Jan. 14, the NEXT Golf Tour reviewed player video and Trackman data to validate scores before releasing the final results.
"Having qualified for the DP World Tour via Q-school may have helped me become more tough in nervous situations,” Gøth-Rasmussen said. “I was not nervous playing the NEXT tournament, but the wait on Sunday night to see if I had won was very nerve-racking."
Watch shot-by-shot replays of every player’s Round 3 performance on the live leaderboard: https://www.nextgolftour.com/tournament/next-golf-tour-round-3-taiheiyo-gotemba/leaderboard
A pack of six players finished a shot back at -8 (T–7, $3,724 each), including American Tripp Kinney, who also tied for the top spot in the birdie streak side game, and Season 1/Round 5 winner Sigurdur Gardarsson of Iceland.
Seventeen players came in at -7 (T–13, $658 each), including a pair of Danes: Nicki Eg Schou, who opened his back nine with six straight birdies to tie Kinney for the side game lead, and past DP World Tour winner Morten Ørum Madsen.
China’s Mohan Du, who plays on the ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour, was in the group of 27 players at -6 (T–30, $321 each). She led a group of 18 women who finished below par.
Jesse Saareks of Finland was the low amateur, also at -6. The NEXT Golf Tour announced prior to Round 3 that all prize money earned by amateurs in excess of $1,000 — the maximum amount players can accept while still maintaining their amateur status — would be donated to charity. Through three rounds of the seven-event series, the total amount allocated stands at $12,552.
Round 4 of the NEXT Golf Tour Season 2 will be played at the PGA West Stadium Course in Trackman simulators worldwide beginning Friday, Jan. 19. Sign-up for Round 4 closes at 23:59 CET (5:59 p.m. ET in the U.S.) on Thursday, Jan. 18. The entry fee is $130, with $100 added directly to the purse. Learn more at NEXTGolfTour.com.
SIDE GAMES WINNERS
Closest-to-the-Pin (Aggregate): Katy Rutherford, Canada (46’ 6”) — $4,000
Longest Drive (Men): Colton Kalkanis (A), Canada (361.2 yards) — $1,000*
Longest Drive (Women): Jeanine Minnick, USA (280 yards) — $2,500
Birdie Streak: (tie) Tripp Kinney, USA and Nicki Eg Schou, Denmark (6) — $1,500
Most Greens in Regulation: (tie) Katy Rutherford, Canada; Fie Olsen, Denmark; Vince India, USA (18) — $1,000 each
*Amateur earnings are capped at $1,000 per event (including both stroke play and side games)
The full Round 3 results — including all side games winners, individual pay outs and updated Order of Merit rankings — can be found at NEXTGolfTour.com. Follow the action all season long on Instagram and Facebook: @NEXTGolfTour and #NEXTGolfTour. Tune in to the NEXT Golf Show on YouTube on Tuesdays after each round, or follow on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
