A few young people were just getting Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard’s autographs next to the 18th hole at Royal Liverpool when they turned to face one another.
The first set of twins to play in The Open looked at each other and asked, “Who is who?”
One laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
Nicolai claims that compared to his brother, his face is a little bit slimmer. He currently has shorter hair as well.
The 22-year-old Danes are hardly distinguishable from one another in any other way.
They also follow a similar path when playing golf.
Both of them became professionals in 2019 and quickly achieved success on the DP World Tour. They even achieved another first for a set of brothers on the tour by winning consecutive weeks in August and September 2021.
In the current major tournaments, they are performing on the same stage. And on Wednesday, it was quite a scene as they strolled side by side along the 18th fairway as the sun emerged from the clouds. They were followed by their parents, Ole and Tina, who both had their right hands in their pockets.
It’s unique, but playing cooperatively is one thing, competing is quite another. Nicolai stated towards the conclusion of his final warm-up round before the Open began.
We shall try our best this year and return in the following years and attempt to do our best since we are capable of competing. Being the first twins here is wonderful, but if we did something on the golf course as well, it would be even cooler.
Rasmus is now ranked No. 84 and has four victories, all on the DP World Tour, the most recent of which was this month’s Made in HimmerLand competition. At one of the season’s most touching moments, Nicolai was present in Farso and was among the first to congratulate his brother close to the 18th green.
“We used to fight back when we were younger. Nicolai, who is rated No. 106 and alternates between the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour, added, “Now we can support one another as you saw in Denmark.”
“Ras and I were there having fun together, and he did the same for me. When we play against each other, we always aim to win, but if one of us plays really well, we encourage each other.” Nicolai said.
They have fun together and refer to each other as brothers and best friends. On the 17th par-3 hole, they lined up next to each other and attempted a sequence of shots out of a deep greenside bunker.
“We were playing a little game, which added some tension but was entertaining,” said Nicolai.
Rasmus knew he was in the field for a while because he placed in the top 30 of the Race to Dubai last year, whilst Nicolai only qualified for The Open after placing in the top 10 of the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday.
Nicolai tied for 50th and Rasmus missed the cut at this year’s PGA Championship, but their ultimate objective is to compete together in the Ryder Cup.
“It doesn’t matter whether it occurs this year or the next. I believe it will occur eventually. We’re not going after it too hard. As long as we do our part, good golf will take care of most of the problems.” Nicolai declared.
Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, two Italian brothers, both placed in the top 15 when The Open was last played in Hoylake in 2014.
