AUGUSTA — The archives at Augusta National run deep, from the property’s founding in the 1850s and the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934 to Arnie, Jack, Tiger and all the greats who have stamped a place in the record book.
A new kind of history is set to be made this week: twin brothers competing in the same Masters.
They are Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard (“Hoy-guard”) from Billund, Denmark, identical twins who started playing golf at age 4. Followers of European golf have no doubt noted these rising Danes, now 24, for several years, but their respective profiles are set to level up this week while competing in the same Masters field. On Tuesday you’d be excused if you struggled to tell them apart if you spotted them on the course. They were wearing identical olive-green pullovers and white caps, which Nicolai described as a happy accident.
“It was completely random, to be fair,” he said. “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.
“We actually thought, it's not too bad, actually, make good sense going into the press conference in the same clothes.”
Nicolai has a buzz cut that distinguishes him from the floppy-haired Rasmus when they're indoors, but outside they're a pair of slender, 6-foot-1 ball-striking machines. Appearances aside, the Højgaards have been building to this moment their entire lives, and like most any siblings, they’ve pushed each other along the way, sometimes with support and other times with ... let's call it competitive fire.
“When we were younger we learned how to deal with it when somebody was playing well and we couldn't talk to each other for days,” said Nicolai.
“We would fight a lot more than saying congratulations,” said Rasmus.
Tensions seem to have long since cooled. The brothers are clearly thrilled to be at Augusta this week and to share a tee sheet, just as they shared the large dais in Augusta’s expansive press room on Tuesday.
But don’t let their Hollywood storyline distract you: they duly earned their spots in this field. Rasmus is currently the higher-ranked Højgaard at 55. Nicolai is 82th. Rasmus won the Irish Open in 2024 for his fifth DP World Tour win. Nicolai is a three-time DP World Tour winner. Rasmus is currently third on the European Ryder Cup points list. Nicolai played on the winning Ryder Cup team in 2023. He also played in last year's Masters, flashing on Saturday's leaderboard before finishing 16th. As they say, these guys are good.
But on a sunny day more than 48 hours before the event kicks off, the mood is light and the brothers are enjoying their moment, even as newcomers still confuse them for each other. They’ve leaned into that forever.
“Back when we went to school, we would switch classes, and everyone in the room, they obviously know that it's the wrong one that's here, but the teacher wouldn't know,” Rasmus said. “So we would sit there for an hour, and everyone was trying to be serious about the situation. Then the teacher eventually would find out that it's Nicolai here and not Ras, and they would just laugh about it.”
The twins have been dreaming of major golf tournaments their whole lives, and even described how as kids they’d pretend to hole putts to win the Masters. But this week that outcome is on the table. One of them could win … but not both. What would it be like to watch your brother be adorned with golf’s most iconic sports coat?
“Probably be very frustrating,” Rasmus said with a laugh. “No, I think it would be very cool. I think we'll deal with it at the time, but I think it's hard to sit here and try and explain what that would feel like.”
“Agreed,” said Nicolai.
With that it was time for the brothers to get back to work. Together they’ll soon make history. But the ultimate dream awaits for only one of them.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Know Your Højgaards: Twin Brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Set to Make History at 2025 Masters.
