Sleep-deprived Nicolai Højgaard cards 5-under 67 in whirlwind PGA TOUR member debut

LA JOLLA, Calif. – What you don’t know can’t hurt you. At least, that’s what Nicolai Højgaard told himself to justify a few extra hours of sleep this week.

In three days, Højgaard went from a T7 finish at the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Classic to playing in the first group off Wednesday at the Farmers Insurance Open in California.

In between, he traveled 8400 miles across 12 time zones, slept very little, and played even less golf. Not how you’d draw up your first start as a full-time member on the PGA TOUR. Yet, Højgaard walked onto Torrey Pines South Course, having never seen the course, and shot a 5-under 67.

It’s the latest reminder of the talent Højgaard, 22, brings to the TOUR. That, despite never playing the South Course before Wednesday, he could shoot the low round of the day on the more difficult of Torrey Pines’ two offerings. The South Course played more than two shots harder than the North Course. The combined score on the South Course was 3-under. The score on the North Course was 179-under. Only 6-of-33 golfers that shot 4-under or better played their first round on the South Course. Højgaard trails leader Kevin Yu by three shots.

“The swing, the body, (the) mind feels different, it just feels different. You've got to try to find a way,” said Højgaard, who didn’t set foot on the property until Tuesday. The extent of his preparation was playing the back nine of the North Course. “I'll just push myself until we feel like the jetlag's gone.”

It’s a form that should be expected, jetlag notwithstanding. While 2024 will be his first full season on the PGA TOUR, Højgaard’s resume is much more decorated than the label of first-year member would suggest. He’s been a top-15 player statistically over the last six months, per DataGolf, and he has the high-end results to back it up.

If he didn’t earn his TOUR card through non-member FedExCup points, he would have with his finish on the DP World Tour. He won the season-ending DP World Tour Championship over the likes of Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood. That moved him to No. 2 in the Race to Dubai, behind only McIlroy, which earned Højgaard exemptions into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

It’s a rapid ascent for Højgaard, who pointed to the experience on the European Ryder Cup team as a turning point in his young career. He went 0-2-1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club as a captain’s pick. It wasn’t the record he hoped for, but it gave him an inside look at what the best players do.

“When you’re around the best players in the world, you watch and learn a little bit what they do, and you take it in,' Højgaard told PGATOUR.com. "It was a huge learning week. There’s so much I can take with me going forward from being in that team room.”

Højgaard isn’t the first to experience a post-Ryder Cup bump. Scottie Scheffler is the most recent example. Scheffler had not won a PGA TOUR event when he played on the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team. He won four times the next year and became the world's No. 1 player.

Højgaard holds that potential. He’s long been considered one of the best young players in Europe. Nicolai Højgaard and his brother Rasmus represented Europe in The 2018 Junior Ryder Cup. The twins also helped Denmark win the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy. Nicolai Højgaard won the European Amateur at Royal Hague that same year, finishing one stroke ahead of a chasing pack that included Hovland.

Højgaard plans to spend most of the season playing PGA TOUR events. He will go back to Europe ahead of The Open Championship but will otherwise spend the next six months stateside. He doesn’t have a home base yet. During the TOUR schedule, he will be going city to city, scouting out a long-term home. But he hopes he’s found one for his professional golfing career on the PGA TOUR.

His first round on Wednesday provided another glimpse of what could be a regular occurrence. Højgaard, starting on the back nine, birdied No. 10 and 11, rolling in putts of 12 and 17 feet, respectively. He added three more birdies to make the turn in 5-under 31, which he maintained into the clubhouse.

“It's pretty much in front of you out here, but you still got to know certain things when you play,” Højgaard said. “I think sometimes you can take advantage of not knowing the golf course and you're just thinking about your execution. I felt like that was the only thing I was doing today.”

Now, he has a chance to separate on Thursday on the North Course, the easier of the two courses, with a clear (and hopefully well-rested) mind.