Latest news with #Hojgaard
The Star
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Spidercam technology brings golf's oldest major into the modern world
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland: The oldest major championship has taken a step into the modern world by using a technological feature that British Open organizers hope will bring to life one of the most storied walks in golf. Spidercam – that's a camera, not a superhero – was used in golf for the first time at Royal Portrush on July 17. It's a camera suspended above the 18th green using four pylons about 25 meters high, giving TV viewers unique views of the closing hole and its undulations. Held in a resting position high to the back of the green for approach shots, Spidercam swoops down as the players make their walk to the green and hovers just above them as they make their putts. "It's pretty cool the way it can move and do all those swings,' said Northern Irish golfer Tom McKibbin, who went out at 6.35am local time in the first group of the day with Nicolai Hojgaard and Padraig Harrington. They were the first players to experience in competition the technology which reportedly cost the R&A £300,000 ($400,000) to install. "It was a little bit different,' McKibbin said. "I'd never seen it before.' That's because the R&A is using the technology before any of the professional tours in golf. Spidercam has, though, operated widely in TV coverage of other major sports including soccer, rugby and cricket – and has occasionally gotten in the way. In 2017, India star MS Dhoni hit a shot in a cricket match against England that smashed into the hovering camera and broke it. In 2022, South Africa cricketer Anrich Nortje was knocked to the ground when he collided with a low-swinging Spidercam as he walked to his place in the field in a test against Australia. The camera operator responsible was stood down for the remainder of the match. "I didn't know what hit me,' Nortje said at the time. "I don't think it should be traveling at head height." At Royal Portrush, Spidercam will complement existing technology such as a plane camera, aerial drones and bunker cameras to enhance TV coverage. According to the Guardian newspaper, players were briefed last week about plans to use Spidercam at Royal Portrush and there were no complaints despite the potential for getting distracted while preparing to make a shot. As Hojgaard and Harrington walked alongside each other to the 18th green, Spidercam swung down and over them. As Harrington made his two putts, the camera almost circled him. Hojgaard said he didn't notice Spidercam. With Royal Portrush not having a clubhouse on the 18th green, there has been space to install the technology. Other venues on the Open rotation won't have that luxury, notably Royal Lytham St. Anne's, Royal Troon and Hoylake. Next year's Open is at Royal Birkdale, which has its clubhouse near the 18th green but should still have room for the Spidercam technology. "We... believe that Spidercam will bring millions of fans a new perspective of the action from Royal Portrush,' said Neil Armit, chief commercial officer at the R&A, "with incredible detail and accessibility wherever they are in the world.' – AP
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hojgaard twins in top 10 at British Open for another cool sight at Royal Portrush
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Nicolai Hojgaard remembers his amateur days when things got tense during a playoff with his twin brother Rasmus. 'Back then we couldn't handle those situations,' he said. Now they're feeding off them. Adding to the many cool sights at Royal Portrush's historic links this week was the British Open leaderboard on Friday showing 24-year-old Danish twins pretty much next to each other. Rasmus tied for fifth. Nicolai tied for 10th, a stroke back. And they both have designs on lifting the claret jug. 'Hopefully we'll have a good weekend,' Nicolai said, 'and maybe battle it out on Sunday.' The Hojgaard brothers — who, in 2023, became the first twins to play at golf's oldest championship — have been pretty much inseparable since they turned pro in 2019, having first hit a golf ball at the age of 4. They were soon champions on the European tour, even winning on consecutive weeks in August-September 2021 — another first on the tour for a pair of brothers. Since last year, they have both had cards to play on the PGA Tour. In fact, don't put it past them to be teaming up at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September. 'We couldn't handle each other's success when we were younger,' Nicolai said, 'but we can do that now and support each other and get motivated by each other. When you get older, you get slightly more mature.' The big question now is who will be the first to win a major title? And will it happen this week? 'I'm going to root for him,' Rasmus said, 'until we are on Sunday, back nine.' Rasmus has a one-shot advantage over his brother and also the positive experience of a big links victory in Ireland last year, when he birdied his last three holes to win the Irish Open at the expense of Rory McIlroy at Royal County Down. Nicolai has a better Open record, though, making the cut three times and having a best finish of tied for 23rd at Hoylake in 2023. Rasmus has got to the weekend once, tying for 60th at Royal Troon last year. Keegan and the Ryder Cup U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley already was in the conversation to be the first playing captain since 1963 when he won the Travelers Championship last month. And then he shot 67 to stay in the mix at the British Open. Points are worth one-and-a-half in the majors (one point equals $1,000). Bradley is No. 9 in the U.S. standings with the top six qualifying, and then he has six captain's picks. One of them could be him. 'I'm going to look at myself as just another player,' Bradley said. 'We have to look at every single possibility, just like we'd look at any other player in my position. Anybody in the top 12 or top 15 or top 20, you want to look at the player that's playing the best.' The PGA Tour has two regular tournaments left and then two $20 million playoff events before the end of qualifying. The picks are made after the Tour Championship ends on Aug. 24. 'If I continue my play, then we'll talk about this,' Bradley said. 'But you never know how this golf thing is.' No more amateurs There will be no silver medal handed out on the 18th green at Royal Portrush on Sunday. Nine amateurs started out on Thursday and all are headed home. That hasn't happened at a completed Open Championship since 2019. To win the silver medal for low amateur, a player must complete 72 holes. The best-placed amateur in the 156-player field was Ethan Fang, an American who shot 75-70 to finish on 3-over par. Extended stay Chris Gotterup might have thought he'd be in the British Isles for only a week when he came over for the Scottish Open, the warmup event for the Open Championship. The American wound up outlasting Rory McIlroy to win in North Berwick on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title, securing a spot in the field at Royal Portrush in the process. Gotterup is sticking around for the weekend there, too, with a second-round 65 lifting him to fifth place. He was flying solo in Scotland last week and his parents have since come over to watch his British Open debut. His girlfriend was thinking of coming over but it didn't work out. 'I feel like if I had a ton of people here, it's always fun, but it just drains you a little bit with entertaining,' he said. Gotterup wasn't allowing himself to think of winning again. 'I felt like I was playing with house money coming into the weekend, or into the week in general,' he said. 'I'm happy to be where I'm at." The imperfect 10 Shaun Norris of South Africa played some reasonable golf on Friday. He had four birdies against only two bogeys. He made 11 pars. Unfortunately for Norris, that only adds up to 17 holes. The other hole was a 10 on the par-4 fourth hole. 'One hole killed me today, so it was a fight there on in,' Norris said after a hard-earned 75. Here's the quick summary: A drive out-of-bounds. A third shot into a fairway bunker. Four shots to get out of the pot bunker. An approach that missed the green. A chip. And a 7-foot putt to save sextuple-bogey 10. 'I hit a very poor tee shot, the first one,' he said. 'Then proceeded to hit the next one straight in the bunker. Now I'm trying to chase something, trying to make the best score out of it. Unfortunately, the fourth shot caught the lip, then stuck with the same club and tried to do the same. 'After that, the mind sort of went a little bit numb. But it happens. Golf is golf. There's nothing you can do about it. Made a number, and I had to accept it and carry on.' ___ AP golf:
Associated Press
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Hojgaard twins in top 10 at British Open for another cool sight at Royal Portrush
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Nicolai Hojgaard remembers his amateur days when things got tense during a playoff with his twin brother Rasmus. 'Back then we couldn't handle those situations,' he said. Now they're feeding off them. Adding to the many cool sights at Royal Portrush's historic links this week was the British Open leaderboard on Friday showing 24-year-old Danish twins pretty much next to each other. Rasmus tied for fifth. Nicolai tied for 10th, a stroke back. And they both have designs on lifting the claret jug. 'Hopefully we'll have a good weekend,' Nicolai said, 'and maybe battle it out on Sunday.' The Hojgaard brothers — who, in 2023, became the first twins to play at golf's oldest championship — have been pretty much inseparable since they turned pro in 2019, having first hit a golf ball at the age of 4. They were soon champions on the European tour, even winning on consecutive weeks in August-September 2021 — another first on the tour for a pair of brothers. Since last year, they have both had cards to play on the PGA Tour. In fact, don't put it past them to be teaming up at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September. 'We couldn't handle each other's success when we were younger,' Nicolai said, 'but we can do that now and support each other and get motivated by each other. When you get older, you get slightly more mature.' The big question now is who will be the first to win a major title? And will it happen this week? 'I'm going to root for him,' Rasmus said, 'until we are on Sunday, back nine.' Rasmus has a one-shot advantage over his brother and also the positive experience of a big links victory in Ireland last year, when he birdied his last three holes to win the Irish Open at the expense of Rory McIlroy at Royal County Down. Nicolai has a better Open record, though, making the cut three times and having a best finish of tied for 23rd at Hoylake in 2023. Rasmus has got to the weekend once, tying for 60th at Royal Troon last year. Keegan and the Ryder Cup U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley already was in the conversation to be the first playing captain since 1963 when he won the Travelers Championship last month. And then he shot 67 to stay in the mix at the British Open. Points are worth one-and-a-half in the majors (one point equals $1,000). Bradley is No. 9 in the U.S. standings with the top six qualifying, and then he has six captain's picks. One of them could be him. 'I'm going to look at myself as just another player,' Bradley said. 'We have to look at every single possibility, just like we'd look at any other player in my position. Anybody in the top 12 or top 15 or top 20, you want to look at the player that's playing the best.' The PGA Tour has two regular tournaments left and then two $20 million playoff events before the end of qualifying. The picks are made after the Tour Championship ends on Aug. 24. 'If I continue my play, then we'll talk about this,' Bradley said. 'But you never know how this golf thing is.' No more amateurs There will be no silver medal handed out on the 18th green at Royal Portrush on Sunday. Nine amateurs started out on Thursday and all are headed home. That hasn't happened at a completed Open Championship since 2019. To win the silver medal for low amateur, a player must complete 72 holes. The best-placed amateur in the 156-player field was Ethan Fang, an American who shot 75-70 to finish on 3-over par. Extended stay Chris Gotterup might have thought he'd be in the British Isles for only a week when he came over for the Scottish Open, the warmup event for the Open Championship. The American wound up outlasting Rory McIlroy to win in North Berwick on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title, securing a spot in the field at Royal Portrush in the process. Gotterup is sticking around for the weekend there, too, with a second-round 65 lifting him to fifth place. He was flying solo in Scotland last week and his parents have since come over to watch his British Open debut. His girlfriend was thinking of coming over but it didn't work out. 'I feel like if I had a ton of people here, it's always fun, but it just drains you a little bit with entertaining,' he said. Gotterup wasn't allowing himself to think of winning again. 'I felt like I was playing with house money coming into the weekend, or into the week in general,' he said. 'I'm happy to be where I'm at.' The imperfect 10 Shaun Norris of South Africa played some reasonable golf on Friday. He had four birdies against only two bogeys. He made 11 pars. Unfortunately for Norris, that only adds up to 17 holes. The other hole was a 10 on the par-4 fourth hole. 'One hole killed me today, so it was a fight there on in,' Norris said after a hard-earned 75. Here's the quick summary: A drive out-of-bounds. A third shot into a fairway bunker. Four shots to get out of the pot bunker. An approach that missed the green. A chip. And a 7-foot putt to save sextuple-bogey 10. 'I hit a very poor tee shot, the first one,' he said. 'Then proceeded to hit the next one straight in the bunker. Now I'm trying to chase something, trying to make the best score out of it. Unfortunately, the fourth shot caught the lip, then stuck with the same club and tried to do the same. 'After that, the mind sort of went a little bit numb. But it happens. Golf is golf. There's nothing you can do about it. Made a number, and I had to accept it and carry on.' ___ AP golf:
Irish Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Hojgaard twins graduate from keen sibling rivalry to contesting at The Open
There have been siblings in professional golf in the past. Multiple Major winner Brooks Koepka has a brother, Chase, who has played on the Challenge Tour and European Tour. There have been sisters, too, with Jessica and Nelly Korda, but never in the modern era of golf have identical twins found themselves in the running for the Open Championship after the first two days. Danish brothers Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard sit at five under par and four under par respectively after two rounds at the Portrush links. Rasmus was three under for Friday's round, carding six birdies and three bogeys in his 68, with Nicolai signing for five birdies and three bogeys for his two-under 69. READ MORE Going into the weekend that puts the Danish duo in a strong position to compete for the Claret Jug come Sunday afternoon. Their climbs up the scoreboard on Friday threw up an interesting dilemma when Rasmus was asked whether he was for or against his brother as both were well up the scoreboard at the halfway point. 'I'm going to root for him until we are on Sunday back nine,' said Rasmus, still exhilarated by his birdie finish to the second round after he sank a 32-foot putt on the 18th green to end his day in style. Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard watches his iron shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images But this week's performance came as something of a surprise. 'I haven't shown the best form so far this summer,' added Rasmus. 'Yeah, I've tried to stay patient and work on my things. So far this week it's been in a place where I can manage it.' So, what's the difference? 'That's a good question. I don't know,' he said. 'Last week was very ... it seems like everything was off, and this week I've sort of managed that my tee shot has been better apart from one drive today. So, I've put myself in better position off the tee. That sort of takes a little bit of pressure off the round.' Rasmus was the 12th group out on Friday with Nicolai playing in the 27th three-ball, where he shared the round with Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington. 'Yeah, it's cool to see Ras playing well this week,' said Nicolai after his round. '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 five [under] where he is. I felt like the round had potential. But yeah, happy for him. Rasmus Hojgaard (right) poses with his brother Nicolai after his win in the Made in HimmerLand tournament at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort in Denmark in 2023. Photograph:'I cheer him on and happy to see him play well, but I also want to beat him. It's a good relationship, and hopefully we'll have a good weekend and maybe battle it out on Sunday.' That would be an interesting final day if the pair found themselves paired together. But the maturity and mutual regard they have for each other hasn't always been a feature of the brothers' relationship. Some years back as junior players they regularly banged heads and argued, especially during the early golf competitions. They have said that they didn't support each other as much as they do now and that their focus and competitive energy went into trying to beat each other. Sons of an airline pilot, they say they learned structure and discipline from their father. But from sibling rivalry they have gone on to make history already this year, after the Billund natives became the first twins to play in The Masters. 'We played some amateur events where we were in a playoff, and it was pretty tense,' said Nicolai. 'But we've tried it a few times. Now our relationship is better, and back then we couldn't handle those situations. We can do that now. 'We couldn't handle each other's success when we were younger, but we can do that now and support each other and get motivated by each other. When you get older, you get slightly more mature.' Still only 24, there is a lot of road ahead. Get used to the Hojgaard twins lighting up scoreboards for the next few decades.
Fox Sports
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Spidercam technology brings golf's oldest major into the modern world
Associated Press PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The oldest major championship has taken a step into the modern world by using a technological feature that British Open organizers hope will bring to life one of the most storied walks in golf. Spidercam — that's a camera, not a superhero — was used in golf for the first time at Royal Portrush on Thursday. It's a camera suspended above the 18th green using four pylons about 25 meters high, giving TV viewers unique views of the closing hole and its undulations. Held in a resting position high to the back of the green for approach shots, Spidercam swoops down as the players make their walk to the green and hovers just above them as they make their putts. 'It's pretty cool the way it can move and do all those swings,' said Northern Irish golfer Tom McKibbin, who went out at 6:35 a.m. local time in the first group of the day with Nicolai Hojgaard and Padraig Harrington. They were the first players to experience in competition the technology which reportedly cost the R&A 300,000 pounds ($400,000) to install. 'It was a little bit different,' McKibbin said. 'I'd never seen it before.' That's because the R&A is using the technology before any of the professional tours in golf. Spidercam has, though, operated widely in TV coverage of other major sports including soccer, rugby and cricket — and has occasionally gotten in the way. In 2017, India star MS Dhoni hit a shot in a cricket match against England that smashed into the hovering camera and broke it. In 2022, South Africa cricketer Anrich Nortje was knocked to the ground when he collided with a low-swinging Spidercam as he walked to his place in the field in a test against Australia. The camera operator responsible was stood down for the remainder of the match. 'I didn't know what hit me,' Nortje said at the time. 'I don't think it should be traveling at head height." At Royal Portrush, Spidercam will complement existing technology such as a plane camera, aerial drones and bunker cameras to enhance TV coverage. According to the Guardian newspaper, players were briefed last week about plans to use Spidercam at Royal Portrush and there were no complaints despite the potential for getting distracted while preparing to make a shot. As Hojgaard and Harrington walked alongside each other to the 18th green, Spidercam swung down and over them. As Harrington made his two putts, the camera almost circled him. Hojgaard said he didn't notice Spidercam. With Royal Portrush not having a clubhouse on the 18th green, there has been space to install the technology. Other venues on the Open rotation won't have that luxury, notably Royal Lytham St. Anne's, Royal Troon and Hoylake. Next year's Open is at Royal Birkdale, which has its clubhouse near the 18th green but should still have room for the Spidercam technology. 'We ... believe that Spidercam will bring millions of fans a new perspective of the action from Royal Portrush,' said Neil Armit, chief commercial officer at the R&A, "with incredible detail and accessibility wherever they are in the world.' ___ AP golf: recommended Item 1 of 3
