European Tour lifts suspension on Thorbjorn Olesen

The European Tour has announced that it has lifted Thorbjorn Olesen’s suspension, allowing the Dane to return to competition with immediate effect.

Yesterday, we reported how the Ryder Cup winner had publicly apologised to his compatriots for the alleged criminal events of last July that caused his career as a professional golfer to be put on hold.

The Ryder Cup star is facing charges of sexual assault, being drunk on an aircraft and assault by beating following an alleged incident on a British Airways transatlantic flight in July 2019.

Due to a backlog of cases caused, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confirmed last month that he won’t stand trial until December 2021. 

Consequently, the tour has decided to lift a suspension it imposed on him last August pending the outcome of the proceedings. 

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In a statement, a European Tour spokesperson said: “Due to this significant and unparalleled delay in the legal process, the European Tour has agreed that his suspension be lifted with immediate effect, allowing him to compete while he continues to contest the case. 

“This will be reviewed following the conclusion of the legal process, but as this is an on-going legal matter the European Tour will be making no further comment at this time.”

Olesen added:  “While my team and I initially agreed that I would not participate in Tour events while the legal proceedings were outstanding, I am naturally grateful to the European Tour for allowing me to continue my career following the lengthy adjournment of my trial. 

“Obviously, the case itself is still on-going so I will continue to make no comment about it.”

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The 30-year-old made his first professional start last week at the Danish PGA Championship, where he faced the press for the first time since the alleged incident. 

“I am incredibly sad about what has happened and would like to apologise to all the Danes who have supported me for so many years,” he said.

“I basically haven’t played golf in a year. I played for a week in November in Spain, and then I’ve been playing for the last couple of weeks – that’s it.

“Since I started playing, I’ve never had anything like that where I haven’t played in such a long time. It’s hard.