Nicolai Hojgaard honored a commitment that nearly kept him out of the 2025 British Open

USA Today

18-07-2025

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The battle for low-Hojgaard is shaping up to be one of the stories of the week at the 153rd British Open. Rasmus shot 3-under 68 at Royal Portrush Golf Club on Friday to beat his twin brother Nicolai by a stroke.
'It's cool to see Ras playing well this week,' said Nicolai, who shot 69 to sit at 4-under 138. 'I saw him quite early on the leaderboard, and I kind of wanted to follow it up. A little frustrated I didn't manage to get to 5 (under) where he is. I felt like the round had potential. But yeah, happy for him.'
Nicolai is just happy to be in the 156-man field. He shot a final-round 64 at the Genesis Scottish Open to finish T-4 and grab one of the final three shots into the Open. With his best finish of the year, he snuck in after skipping Final Qualifying, which was held at several sites on July 1. There was only one problem: Nicolai had previously committed to a junior clinic that day that he and Rasmus were hosting back home in Denmark at Great Northern Resort.
"We've been on the national team since we were 12-13 years old and got a lot of help from the coaches and staff. It was an amazing time," Rasmus said. "We had been talking for a while that we wanted to do something for junior golf in Denmark. It was very important for us to be there."
All told, 108 junior golfers participated in the golf day, which pitted the Hojgaards vs Team Denmark.
It's a noble gesture of Nicolai to give back and do his part to grow the game first over a chance to play in a major, especially in a Ryder Cup year when he has work to do if he's going to make the European 12-man team.
'It shows his true colors,' Rasmus said.
Asked if he considered bowing out — surely the junior golfers would have been disappointed but understood — Nicolai told Golfweek, 'It was a pretty easy decision for me. I kept my word. I made a commitment a year ago. It's not that many years we were in the same position looking up to our idols at a DP World Tour event at home. Really cool to give back and see kids being happy. Sometimes it's a better feeling than to play good golf.'
The Hojgaard twins, who are 24, started playing the game of golf when they were four years old. They shot to prominence when they teamed up with John Axelsen, leading Denmark to win the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy at the World Amateur Team Championship. Nicolai and Rasmus made a birdie on the 72nd hole to edge the favored United States team, including Collin Morikawa, by just one shot.
On paper, Nicolai, No. 93 in the Official World Golf Ranking, was individually the more successful of the twins during their amateur careers. Reaching No. 5 in the world at just 17 years old, he won the European Amateur Championship at the Royal Hague Golf & Country Club and played in the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie. He turned pro the following year and has notched three DP World Tour wins. But Nicolai, who was a captain's pick for the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, hasn't tasted victory since 2023.
Rasmus, No. 76 in the world, was the first player born in the 2000s to win on the European Tour. He won in only his fifth European Tour start and became the third-youngest winner in Tour history (18 years, 271 days). They are both seeking their first PGA Tour title, but came close in April, teaming to finish second at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, one shot back of the winning team of Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak.
Both are in the trophy hunt for the coveted Claret Jug at the midway point at Portrush. They had some tense battles as amateurs, battling it out in playoffs, and struggled with sibling rivalry.
'Back then, we couldn't handle those situations. We can do that now,' Nicolai said. 'Let's see what happens this weekend. Hopefull,y we'll get a chance to play with each other.'
Rasmus may have put it best. 'I'm going to root for him until we are on Sunday back nine.'