Nicolai Hojgaard

ELIGIBILITY: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024.]

Nicolai has an identical twin brother, Rasmus. The pair started playing the game of golf when they were four years old. Alongside his brother Rasmus, the duo played in the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup together, halving their first match against Akshay Bhatia and Michael Thorbjornsen. Nicolai and his brother 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 1 shot. On paper, Nicolai was individually the more successful of the twins during their amateur careers. Reaching #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 Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Hojgaard turned professional at the start of 2019. For most of the season, he played a mixture of Nordic Golf League and Challenge Tour events. He played in 10 Challenge Tour events, his best finish was T-13th at the Italian Challenge Open. In September, he was runner-up in the KLM Open, a shot behind winner Sergio Garcia.
2020 Notes: Played in 18 European Tour events, making seven cuts. Their best finish was T-16th at the Italian Open. They also played in six Challenge Tour events.
2021 Notes: Played in 22 European Tour events, making 15 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was T-7th at the Austrian Golf Open, seven shots back of winner John Catlin. Shot 65-66 over the weekend at the Canary Islands Championship to finish T-4th. In September, Hojgaard won his first European Tour event at the Italian Open, winning by a shot ahead of Tommy Fleetwood and Adrian Meronk. His twin brother Rasmus had won the week before at the Omega European Masters, meaning the Hojgaard twins became the first brothers to win in back-to-back weeks on the European Tour. He ended the season shooting a final round 64 to finish T-2nd at the Portugal Masters, two shots back of winner Thomas Pieters. He then finished T-4th at the DP World Tour Championship, two shots back of winner Collin Morikawa. He ended the year 8th in the Race to Dubai with winnings of euro1,203,973.
2022 Notes: He played in 23 DP World Tour events, making 11 cuts and one top-ten finish. He was 71st in the Race to Dubai. He returned to the winner's circle at the Ras al Khaima Championship. He shot 24 under par for four rounds, beating Jordan Smith by four shots. He played in the PGA Championship, Hojgaard's first pro event in the United States, but missed the cut. His last event of the season was 55th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
2023 Notes: Was T-10th at the ISPS Handa Australian Open and Abu Dhabi Championship. He was T-5th at the Thailand Classic, seven shots back of winner Thorbjorn Olesen. He finished 2nd at the Corales Puntacana Championship, a shot back of winner Matt Wallace. With the finish, he earned a special temporary membership for the rest of 2023 on the PGA Tour. Was T-5th at the Italian Open, six shots back of winner Adrian Meronk. Shot a final round 67 at the Genesis Scottish Open to finish T-6th, six shots back of the winner Rory McIlroy. With the finish, he will now join his bother Ramus playing in the 151st Open Championship. They are the second set of brothers to be competing in The 151st Open, with Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick also set to tee off at Hoylake. Finished 23rd at the British Open. Played in his first Ryder Cup and had a 0-2-1 record, he lost his singles match to Xander Schauffele 3 & 2. He secured more non-member FedEx Cup points than the No. 125 finisher in the standings at the end of the 2023 RSM Classic; Nicolai earned a full PGA Tour membership for 2024. Ended the 2023 season by finishing 2nd at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and winning the DP World Championship.
2024 Notes: He was T-7th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Finished 2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, his second career runner-up on the Tour and first since becoming a full-time PGA Tour member. Since then his best finish was T-16th at the Masters.