Bubble boys Victor Perez, Nicolai Højgaard carry Olympics momentum into Wyndham Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. – It’s a 10-hour flight from Paris to Atlanta, then one more hour to Greensboro, North Carolina, home of the Wyndham Championship. For France’s Victor Perez and Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard, that’s a lot of time to reflect on their first Olympic golf appearances at Le Golf National in Paris.

The 31-year-old Perez, who struck the opening tee shot in his home country, carded a final-round 63 that included six birdies and an eagle in an 11-hole stretch to finish one stroke off Hideki Matsuyama’s bronze medal. “Worst fourth place of my life,” Perez joked.

After a third-round 62 – that included seven birdies and an eagle to tie the course record – put him in podium position, Højgaard carded a final-round 68 to finish in seventh, three shots away from bronze.

Both Perez and Højgaard earned their TOUR cards via a top-10 finish in the 2023 DP World Tour Race to Dubai. Both players are paired together at Sedgefield Country Club for the first two rounds at the Wyndham. And this week, both players are hovering around the bubble of top 70 players advancing to the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis for the FedExCup Playoffs.

At No. 70 in the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, Perez is right on the bubble. At No. 79, Højgaard will need to finish at least in a two-way tie for fifth to have a chance.

For Perez, preparing for the Wyndham is a mentality shift from his Olympics pedal-to-the-medal strategy.

“You're going for three places (at the Olympics) … for four days and that's all you really can do … This is obviously a lot more what we're used to where kind of everything matters, every point, positions, where you stand on the FedExCup,” Perez said Wednesday ahead of the Wyndham. “Making the cut, missing the cut, the repercussions that it will have, top 10, winning, obviously where that puts you, everything can change so fast whereas last week was a lot more straightforward … Whether it's easier or harder, it's just what we do in a sense.”

Fortunately, Perez does have some experience to draw from.

“When I got on Challenge Tour in Europe, my first year I was like No. 16 going into the final and obviously top 15 would get their cards,” he recalled. “I remember just absolutely crumbling the last week and not getting my card, finishing 18 … (thinking) if you don’t make it, everything’s going to fall apart.

“Looking back in hindsight, being like, ‘Oh, I wish I would have gotten my card at the time,’ but looking back now, I think it was probably great that I didn't get my card and I was able to get another year on the Challenge Tour, and I finished third and then I did end up getting my card.

“I'm much further up in my career now and I think I have a little bit more perspective on the results in a sense. Whether it works or doesn't work … I don't think it's going to be the end of the world. … In a sense it's only August, and so there's still time to do great things in the fall as well. … I can look back and not look at this week with the first 7-footer on No. 3 or something and then you miss and you think, ‘Oh, no, everything's falling apart.’ … So I'm going in this week with a lot more peace than I would have if I was 23.”

Strong words of advice that Højgaard, who is 23, seems to be adopting.

“I can go out and play freely this week,” said Højgaard. “I'm outside of the cutline right now, so I have nothing to lose when I'm playing. I'm going to go out and do my best, and hopefully that'll be enough this week.”

Højgaard equates the first-tee Olympics nerves to those at his first Ryder Cup appearance, just last year at Marco Simone in Italy. “Those two weeks are at the top of my list in my golfing career,” he said.

But despite the pressure, he found something in Paris. “I haven't had my best stuff on the course this year,” Højgaard said. “I think I'm on the right track at the moment, definitely saw it last week. Hopefully we can have a good week so we can get into the Playoffs. Really excited for the end of this year going into next year, now we know what it's all about.

“Focus on your own game and your own way,” he continued. “It's easy out here to get drawn into stuff, when you see the best players in the world do certain things. You've gotta understand that you've gotta do things your own way. … I'd love to make it, but this week I'm gonna go out and do my best.”