Rasmus Højgaard during the second round of the 2023 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters. | Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez/Getty Images
Rasmus Højgaard is on the precipice of receiving a PGA Tour card. A good finish at the Qatar Masters will send him there.
Rasmus Højgaard, at just 22 years old, is close to securing a PGA Tour card for the first time.
A top 10 finish at this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters would put the young Dane over the hump thanks to new exemption guidelines.
The top 10 players on the DP World Tour’s 2023 Race to Dubai rankings—not otherwise exempt—will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season. Højgaard is currently ranked 19th, three spots off Marcel Siem, who holds the final spot.
“I’m trying to focus on the golf, which I can sort of control and not let all the things around stress me out too much,” Højgaard said per the DP World Tour.
“It’s obviously the biggest goal I have for the rest of the year. I’ve set out a few goals at the start of the season to see if I can tick them off. Some have been accomplished, some haven’t, but this is definitely up there now, and I’m really hoping I can play some good golf here in the last three events of the year.”
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Rasmus Højgaard lines up a putt on the 15th green during the second round of the 2023 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Højgaard is off to a good start at the Qatar Masters, as he carded a 4-under 68 on Thursday and a 1-under 71 on Friday.
The Billund, Denmark native is 5-under through 36 holes.
He easily made the cut but sits five strokes behind a trio of leaders at 10-under. Two of those players, Santiago Tarrio of Spain and Daniel Hiller of New Zealand, have not completed their second rounds yet, so Højgaard will likely find himself in a bigger hole when he begins his third round.
A wild sandstorm early Thursday and a thunderstorm later that evening created scheduling snafus for the tournament. Half of the field has yet to complete 36 holes.
But luckily for Højgaard, he does not have to play extra holes on Saturday. Perhaps that will diminish his fatigue and help him replicate the success he has had for the past month on the DP World Tour.
At the Cazoo Open de France, Højgaard finished in solo fourth. Then, at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, the young Dane finished in a tie for 25th. A week later, he tied for 26th at the Andalucia Masters, won by Ryder Cup snub Adrian Meronk.
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Rasmus Højgaard poses with his brother Nicolai Hojgaard after winning on the sixth playoff hole at the Made in HimmerLand DP World Tour event in Denmark.
Meanwhile, Nicholai, his twin brother, has primarily played on the PGA Tour this fall.
Nicholai, who played for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup, is currently a special temporary member of the PGA Tour, which allows him to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions through the end of the FedExCup Fall.
Should he secure more non-member FedExCup points than whoever is ranked 125th by the end of the RSM Classic, Nicholai will earn his PGA Tour card for 2024.
He currently has 466 non-member FedEx Cup points to his name, as he most recently finished in a tie for 31st at the ZOZO Championship. That is 90 points ahead of Erik Van Rooyen, who is hanging on to the final spot with three events left in the FedEx Cup Fall.
Thus, Nicholai is all but set to secure a PGA Tour membership for the 2024 season, and his brother Rasmus hopes to join him.
“Nicolai has been playing some good golf, and he’s [about to get] his card in America now, so I really want to go over there and join him so we can play together,” Rasmus said.
This past July, the Højgaard brothers became the first set of twins to play in The Open Championship together.
Now, they have their sights set on the PGA Tour, and it is only a matter of time until one emerges victorious on American soil.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
