Nicolai Hojgaard will make his Ryder Cup debut in Rome after impressing Luke Donald to earn a captain’s pick.
The former Junior Ryder Cup member has been a regular on leaderboards on the DP World Tour this year and was one of Donald’s six wildcards along with Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry .
He is the fourth Danish golfer to represent Europe after Thomas Bjorn, Soren Hansen and Thorbjorn Olesen but his twin brother Rasmus has missed out. Hojgaard,22, earned his pick after recent good form in the Czech Masters and Omega European Masters with Christian Christensen on his bag.
Christensen first caught the eye by Hojgaard’s side when the 22-year-old impressed in the Hero Cup in the second week of January 2023 as he finished as the joint top-point scorer, winning 3.5 points from four matches.
Christensen has since been a regular carrying for Hojgaard, including a top ten at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and tied fifth at Ryder Cup venue Marco Simone in the Italian Open, which he won in 2021 at the Rome course.
Hojgaard then added a top 25 in his first Open this summer before a tie for 14th at the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour. His recent results prior to the Ryder Cup announcement underlined his form after a top three in the Czech Republic and a tied fifth finish in Switzerland in a lucrative spell for both the player and caddie as their rapport continues to grow.
Nicolai Hojgaard and former caddie Lee Warne
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Hojgaard previously had bagman Lee Warne last year , who used to work as a greenkeeper at BMW PGA Championship venue Wentworth before teaming up to carry for Alex Noren.
Warne put that crucial Wentworth knowledge to good use in 2017, when he helped Noren establish a new final round course record of 62 on his way to winning the tournament.
Prior to Warne, Hojgaard used caddie Christian Baeck who was on his bag when he won the Italian Open in 2021.
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