Posted by Jason Sobel
Anders Hansen is a PGA Tour rookie in official status only this season. In reality, there's nothing novice about him.
The 36-year-old Denmark native has been a professional since 1995 and finished in the top-100 on the European Tour's Order of Merit in each of the last seven seasons, but like so many of his international brethren before him. he's come to the United States in search of riches on the PGA Tour.
After qualifying via a T-4 finish at Q School last December, Hansen has seen a forgettable start to his season, with just five made cuts in nine starts and no finish better than T-22.
"I haven't played that great this year, Hansen said at the Byron Nelson Championship last month. "I missed a few and made a few cuts, but not really top results. I'm just trying to get used to being over here and trying to get used to traveling abroad all the time. It's a long trip coming from Europe over here every time to play, and getting used to being around different players and new golf courses every week. Playing in Europe always every week I knew the golf courses, I knew what was coming to me. This year, I don't know what's coming to me, so I can't prepare. It makes it a bit more difficult. But that's part of it. That's part of why I went here, just wanted a new challenge."
On Sunday, Hansen proved you can go home again, as he shot a final-round 69 to win the BMW PGA Championship in a playoff over Justin Rose.
After making an 18-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole and watching his counterpart miss, an obviously emotional Hansen walked arm-in-arm off the final green with Rose.
Before chalking this up as just another Euro Tour win by some guy you've heard of but couldn't pick out of a crowd, take a good look at the other names on the leaderboard and you'll see why the win -- Hansen's second at Wentworth in the last six years -- meant so much to him. Besides Rose, the top-10 included top players Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Luke Donald, Niclas Fasth and Henrik Stenson.
If that sounds like a pretty good group of guys to triumph over, well, it is -- and for good reason. The BMW is the Euro Tour's flagship event, one Singh calls "even bigger than the Players is in the United States."
What comes next for Hansen? Only time will tell, but here's guessing the victory will catapult him to some solid results on the U.S. circuit as well.
