Meet the Danish twins making history at the Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's hard to make history at Augusta National, but on Thursday, Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard will become the first set of twins to compete in the same Masters Tournament.
The pair met with the media at the 89th edition of the event wearing – fittingly – the same olive-colored sweater.
Advertisement
'It was completely random, to be fair,' said Nicolai. 'Ras left the house a little bit earlier than me this morning, and when I came out here, he was sitting in beige pants and a green jumper, and I said, Ras. Because I saw he left in a black shirt, so I thought, perfect. Then I realized we've got the same jumper on. We actually thought, it's not too bad, actually, make good sense going into the press conference in the same clothes. So it worked out all right.'
While Nicolai made his Masters debut last year, taking a share of 16th and even briefly holding a share of the lead on Saturday, twin brother Rasmus received a special invitation to play this week. Rasmus ranks 55th in the Official World Golf Ranking and Nicolai is 82nd. The Danish brothers, now 24, recalled watching their first Masters in 2012 when Bubba Watson triumphed for the first time.
The pair admit that during their early years, they would fight with each other more than offer congratulations.
'I think when we were younger we learned how to deal with when somebody was playing well and we couldn't talk to each other for days,' said Nicolai, 'and that helped a certain amount of really wanting to beat each other and that competitive edge we both have, and I think that's been really important.
Advertisement
'Then when we got older and more mature we can shake each other's hand now and say congrats when someone is playing well and be brothers as well and friends at the same time. It's been pretty cool, the ride we've been on together, and hopefully it'll be even better going forward.'
In 2024, Nicolai played nine holes with Jon Rahm on Tuesday and Adam Scott on Wednesday. They planned to play with Scott again this year, calling Aussie 'a specialist" around this place.
Nicolai said the last 27 holes of his Masters debut was the most important learning experience he's ever had in golf and one of the best weeks of his life.
Advertisement
Meanwhile Rasmus said he's watched any and all footage he could find on YouTube of every Masters round since 1975. It hits different in person, though.
'The third green, how big that runoff is short of the green there shocked me a little bit,' said Rasmus. 'Tenth tee, Nicolai said to me, that's probably the tee shot that's going to shock you the most. I didn't quite know what to expect, but standing there on the 10th tee, it looks very different from what I've seen on TV.'
Back home in Denmark, the brothers shared many moments at their local club pretending that the next putt was the putt to win the Masters.
Now together, they'll finally get their chance.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Meet the Danish twins making history at the 2025 Masters
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Open 2025 live updates: Leaderboard, best pairings for the second round at Oakmont
USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change. How's that for an opener? The U.S. Open 2025 is underway with 18 holes in the books after Thursday's first round at Oakmont Country Club, the highest-ranked private course on the Golfweek's Best state-by-state list. Now it's on to Round 2. If you want leaderboard updates, scores, tee times, highlights and more from the first round, you've come to the right spot. U.S. Open 2025 leaderboard Keep tabs on the U.S. leaderboard, scores and tee times here. Here's what the top of the leaderboard looked like after the first round. These are the only golfers under par after 18 holes. Pos. Golfer Score 1 J.J. Spaun -4 2 Thriston Lawrence -3 T3 Si Woo Kim -2 T3 Brooks Koepka -2 T3 Sungjae Im -2 T6 Ben Griffin -1 T6 Thomas Detry -1 T6 Jon Rahm -1 T6 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen -1 T6 James Nicholas -1 A view of a golf club on the second tee box during a practice round ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. Where and how to watch the U.S. Open Second round, 6:30 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET, Peacock Second round featured groups, 7 a.m. ET to 1 p.m., USGA App, DirecTV, YouTube TV Second round, 1 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock Second round, 7 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET, Peacock Second round, 3 p.m. ET to 8 p.m., Sirius XM Radio Live from the U.S. Open, 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET, Golf Channel Advertisement See the complete TV and streaming lineup for the entire week here. What's the projected cutline at the U.S. Open? The USGA, which runs the championship, set the cut for the low 60 and ties. After Thursday's first round, that would make the projected cutline 3 over. That would put these guys in jeopardy with 18 holes to play Friday. Pos. Golfer Score T49 Hideki Matsuyama 4 over T49 Matt Fitzpatrick 4 over T49 Wyndham Clark 4 over T49 Rory McIlroy 4 over T79 Joaquin Niemann 5 over T98 Patrick Cantlay 6 over T98 Justin Thomas 6 over T98 Jason Day 6 over T119 Justin Rose 7 over T133 Shane Lowry 9 over Who won the U.S. Open the last time it was at Oakmont? That would be Dustin Johnson in 2016. This is the 10th U.S. Open at Oakmont, the most of any golf course. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: US Open leaderboard live updates: Tee times, TV channel today, odds


New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Rory McIlroy ducks media after rough first round in US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. — Two players many expected to play well this week, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, flopped in the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. McIlroy, who has lost his mojo and motivation since winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam in April, shot a 4-over-par 74, and Lowry struggled worse, finishing with a 9-over 79. Lowry not only entered the week in good form, with a couple runner-up finishes this season, but he was the runner-up the last time the U.S. Open was played at Oakmont in 2016. McIlroy, who has finished tied for 47th at the PGA and missed the cut last week in Canada, seemingly was given a gift by the USGA when it paired him with Lowry, his close friend and fellow Irishman. McIlroy played well early, shooting a 2-under 33 on his front nine, which was the back nine since he started on No. 10. But he got sloppy on the final nine, shooting a 6-over 41 with bogeys on Nos. 1, 3, 6 and 7 and a double on 8, his second-to-last hole. Afterward, McIlroy refused to speak to reporters, a stunt he pulled after all four rounds at the PGA last month. Rory McIlroy didn't talk to the media after shooting a first-round 74 at the U.S. Open. AP He not only refused to come out of the locker room to speak to reporters, but he declined a request by the USGA simply to agree to a couple of statements about his round. Lightning struck early Thursday morning, and it came from a rather unlikely source. Maxwell Moldovan, a 23-year-old qualifier from Ohio, began the day with a hole-out eagle on the first hole, immediately getting to 2-under-par. 'It was a cool feeling,' he said afterward. 'You never really draw up your first hole that way. You kind of try to go fairway, green, two-putt and get out of there.' Moldovan said he hit an 8-iron 191 yards. 'I couldn't really see it, but I heard people start cheering, and then I walked down the hill, and I saw it go in and everybody's hands go up,' he said. When he realized the ball had gone in, Moldovan raised his arms in the air. 'God is good,' he said. 'I just pointed up to heaven above, thank God, because I only hit the shot. He let it go in.' Matt Vogt, the 34-year-old dentist who grew up near Oakmont, caddied at the club for five years and made it into the field as a qualifier, struck the first shot of the tournament with his 6:45 a.m. tee time. He finished with a 12-over-par 82. 'I hope that I represented the city, Oakmont, with pride today,' Vogt said. 'All this has been incredible. I don't want this to be about me this week. I just hope to bring a lot of, I guess, joy to the city. It means a ton. It means a ton to hit that first tee ball. Matt Vogt watches his shot from the seventh tee during the first round of the U.S. Open. Getty Images 'Right now, playing poorly really stings,' he went on. 'I made some really bad mental errors early on, and it's hard out here because you can't make physical and mental errors. You get behind the eight ball here, and honestly, your head starts spinning … and it just gets away from you. 'Honestly, I came in with such optimism for this golf course, but it is so hard. It's just so, so hard. In the moment, you feel like you get punched in the face, but ultimately, I'd say it was fun. I'm trying to have a silver lining on shooting 82.' Phil Mickelson, 54, is the only player in the 156-man field who played in the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Mickelson has the third-most sub-par rounds in U.S. Open history with 26. One of them was not Thursday as he shot a 4-over 74. Si Woo Kim posted the second-lowest score of the morning wave, at 2-under par. He didn't see that round coming after playing practice rounds earlier this week. 'I played three nine-hole [rounds] Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and I don't even know what I'm doing on the course,' he said. 'I was kind of hitting good, but feel like this course is too hard for me. I had no expectation, but I played great today.'


Hamilton Spectator
5 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
At the US Open, Patrick Reed hits the rarest of shots
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Patrick Reed made the third double-eagle of his career Thursday. He's still only seen one of them go in. Reed raised his hands to the sky, wondering what happened when he unleashed a 3-wood from 286 yards in the fairway of the par-5 fourth hole at the U.S. Open. It was a beauty. The ball bounced three times then rolled toward the hole and into the cup. The so-called albatross is considered the rarest shot in golf, with only a few hundred dropping a year, compared to more than 30,000 holes-in-one. Reed said the best one he hit came at a tournament in Germany, when he came out in the morning to finish the last four holes after getting rained out the night before. He had two par 5s left and his wife, Justine, was urging him to attack those and get to 3 under. He parred the first, then made double eagle to close. 'Two hours later, she was back at home and said, 'Way to finish the par 5s,'' Reed said. 'I said, 'Did you actually look at the scorecard?' She said, 'No, I just saw you were at 3 under.' She clicked on it, and just looked at me. Hey, she told me to get to 3 under, she didn't tell me how to do it.' The only one Reed saw came at Dominion Country Club in San Antonio when he was a kid. He hit driver off the deck onto the green while the group in front of him was still putting. 'They turned around and looked at me, then they all started jumping because they watched the ball roll right past them and disappear,' Reed said. 'I didn't know I could get there.' This marks just the fourth albatross at the U.S. Open since the event started keeping such records in 1983. The 2018 Masters champion joins T.C. Chen (1985 at Oakland Hills), Shaun Micheel (2010 at Pebble Beach) and Nick Watney (2012 at Olympic). Despite the 2 on No. 12, Reed finished at 3-over 73 after finishing with triple bogey on No. 18. 'I was doing pretty well there until that last hole,' Reed said. ___ AP golf: