Ahead of his maiden appearance at the Masters Tournament, which gets underway at Augusta National next week, Søren Kjeldsen has been honoured by the Queen of Denmark in recognition of his victory at the 2008 Volvo Masters, the biggest win of his career.
Along with 400 fellow guests from the worlds of culture and sport, including current WBA super middleweight champion of the world Mikkel Kessler, Kjeldsen attended a gala evening hosted by Queen Margarethe II and her husband Prince Henrik at their royal residence, Christiansborg Palace.
Kjeldsen said: “It was definitely a big honour for me. It’s the sort of thing I’d never really given much thought to before, but once the invitation arrived I jumped at the chance. I mean, how often do you get the chance to meet the Queen?
“There was lots of entertainment, some great food and we did a bit of dancing too, so all in all it was a really good night.”
Kjeldsen, who took his tally of European Tour titles to three with his victory at last week’s Open de Andalucia de Golf 09, will now focus his efforts on preparing for his debut at the forthcoming Masters Tournament.
The 33 year old qualified for the opening Major of the 2009 season courtesy of finishing in 50th place in the final 2008 Official World Golf Ranking by the narrowest of margins – just one hundredth of a point.
Kjeldsen explained: “I was initially told I was in the top 50 by a guy who writes for a Danish website. But then he called back to say that if Richard Sterne won the South African Open Championship, I would be 51st. I then watched him make tons of birdies on the back nine, and win in a play-off. So I went on a ten-mile run on the beach, screaming and shouting.
“I came back, calmed down, and went to bed. But then the same guy rang back at midnight to say that he had it wrong, and I was in after all. I was completely drained! But it’s a dream to play at the Masters, and I’ve already had the invitation framed.”
Kjeldsen, one of 47 European Tour Members in the field at Augusta National, will be joined there by seven fellow European Tour debutants: the English duo of Ross Fisher and Oliver Wilson, American Anthony Kim, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Weng-Tang, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, South African Louis Oosthuizen and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.
Oosthuizen scraped into the tournament, having earned just enough points to retain his place in the top 50 of the World Ranking by making the cut at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard on the US PGA Tour.
The last remaining place will be offered to the winner of this week’s Shell Houston Open in Texas, America, where Kim, McIlroy and Quiros will hone their games ahead of arguably the most daunting test in golf next week.
Amateur sensations Danny Lee of New Zealand and Reinier Saxton of The Netherlands will also tackle Augusta National for the first time.
Lee, winner of the recent Johnnie Walker Classic, qualifies as the reigning US Amateur Champion, whilst Saxton owes his place to his Amateur Championship triumph at Turnberry last year.
