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Ryder Cup 2023: Nicolai Hojgaard – A Twin alone in Rome

Nicolai Hojgaard will represent Denmark in Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup. He is the youngest in the field and is making his debut.

Nicolai Hojgaard will be one of the rookies at the 2023 Ryder Cup. (Photo: Getty)
Nicolai Hojgaard will be one of the rookies at the 2023 Ryder Cup. (Photo: Getty)

The man from Denmark was only born in 2001 and at 22 will be the youngest player at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy. Nicolai Hojgaard played his way back into Ryder Cup consideration in the last minute and was nominated as one of Luke Donald’s ‘Captain’s Picks’ in the end. The Dane has two wins on the DP World Tour to show for his career. His twin brother Rasmus Hojgaard is also a professional golfer and has already celebrated success. Both set themselves the goal of going to the Ryder Cup together, but only one of them has made it. But an event from last year on the DP World Tour makes the two inseparable despite Rasmus not being nominated.

Nicolai Hojgaard at the 2023 Ryder Cup

Nicolai Hojgaard was only 25th in the Ryder Cup rankings before the final announcement of Team Europe. He collected 942 points in the rankings by the beginning of September, while Yannik Paul, who missed the qualification in the end, had a whole 1731 points. But this ranking was only secondary in Hojgaard’s nomination, because the Dane played his way onto Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald’s note with the performance in the last decisive tournaments.

Before that, the Dane played a season with ups and downs on the DP World and PGA Tour. Placements in the top ten were often followed by missed cuts. From the beginning of June to the end of July, he had to say goodbye after the cut in three of four tournaments. Then a strong shared sixth place at the Scottish Open 2023 and a shared 23rd place at The Open 2023, his best performance to date at a major after T50 at the PGA Championship this year, came as a surprise. But Hojgaard’s biggest exclamation mark this year came at the end of August when he finished third at the D+D Real Czech Masters and followed that up with a strong shared fifth place at the Omega European Masters a week later.

The European captain obviously wants to benefit from this form at the 2023 Ryder Cup in the Italian capital: “He’s a young superstar. The world is at his feet when it comes to golf. We are seeing the beginning of what he has already achieved at such a young age. With Nicolai, it was important for me to have six players in good form and what he’s done in the last two weeks has been very special.” When the Danish golfer found out about his good fortune, he could hardly believe it. The call from Luke Donald was an emotional one for the young Dane: “To be honest, I was hoping for it, but after today it was a bit mixed. I can’t describe how this call feels!”

Nicolai Hojgaard as a Rookie to the Ryder Cup 2023

Although Nicolai Hojgaard has no experience of the Ryder Cup so far, the Northern European can look back on other comparable competitions. At the Hero Cup earlier this year, the continental Europeans faced off against the team from Great Britain and Ireland. Because his brother Rasmus was injured, Nicolai stepped in and was promptly convincing. In the duel with Seamus Power he won his singles match and contributed 2.5 points to the victory of the continental Europeans in Abu Dhabi.

Together with brother Rasmus Nicolai Hojgaard won the Eisenhower Trophy in Ireland in 2018. The pair, along with John Axelsen, took the title to Denmark at the World Amateur Team Championship with a one-stroke lead over the USA, who fielded Colin Morikawa among others. In the same year, the pair were to be less fortunate, losing the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup to the Americans.

The career of Nicolai Hojgaard so far

Nicolai Hojgaard’s success story is directly linked to his twin brother Rasmus. The two brothers share a record that is unlikely to be broken in the near future. In September 2021, Rasmus Hojgaard first won the Omega Masters in Switzerland, only for Nicolai to match him a week later and win the Italian Open with a birdie on the last hole and a one-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood and Adrian Meronk. It had never happened before that two brothers won in a row on the European Tour. For the Ryder Cup rookie, it was his first title on the DP World Tour at the time, before he celebrated his next success five months later in February 2022 at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship with 24 strokes under par.

The youngster, who is still at the beginning of his career, could bring in about four million US dollars so far and seems to be one of the European players for the future. Therefore, it should also be a nomination with a view to upcoming editions of the Ryder Cup. But now the next challenge in the Dane’s young career awaits at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. Can Hojgaard catch fire again, as he did in Abu Dhabi, and help his team to victory in Rome?

A look inside Nicolai Hojgaard’s bag for the 2023 Ryder Cup

Since this year, both Nicolai and his brother Rasmus Hojgaard are under contract with Callaway. Like his colleague and team member Jon Rahm, Nicolai tees up with the Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver. When it comes to the woods, he then relies on the Rogue ST Max model with 16.5 degrees of loft, slightly more than the 14 to 15 degrees that are usual on the Tour. As a transition to the irons, Hojgaard, like many of his Tour colleagues, chooses a utility iron, more precisely the Callaway X21.
He completes his long game with the 2021 Apex MB (Muscle Back) irons. He takes the Players irons of the well-known Apex series from the 4-iron to the pitching wedge into his golf bag.

Nicolai Højgaard’s wedges ??❤️#TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/WNRQQxYbEG — Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 12, 2023

In keeping with the Ryder Cup, the Dane had a special version of the Callaway Jaws wedges forged. The three wedges bear various allusions to Team Europe and, of course, the venue of the Ryder Cup in Rome. With 50 degrees, 56 degrees and 60 degrees, Hojgaard covers the entire width of the “usual” wedges and additionally leaves many possibilities of use around the green open with different sole grinds.
The Odyssey Toulon putter makes it into his bag with the Chicago Blade design and, together with the Callaway Chrome Soft X, completes the Ryder Cup rookie’s equipment choice.