What happened to Rasmus Hojgaard at the DP World Tour Championship in 2023?
Rasmus Hojgaard missed out on earning his PGA Tour card in 2023 after a rough outing in the final round of the DP World Tour Championship. The top ten finishers in the Race to Dubai standings, who did not already have a PGA Tour card, earned the card for the following season.
Rasmus Hojgaard was ranked tenth in the standings as he entered the 2023 DP World Tour Championship. However, after the competition, he missed securing his spot by just 33 points. He finished T11 in the season-ending competition and also missed the chance to earn the PGA Tour card last year.
Meanwhile, his brother Nicolai Hojgaard won the 2023 DP World Tour Championship. Interestingly, things are completely different in 2024 as Rasmus is in contention to win the title while Nicolai failed to qualify for the DP World Tour Championship.
On November 15, during a press conference for the 2024 DP World Tour Championship, Rasmus Hojgaard opened up about his performance last year and called it a "tough one." However, he also acknowledged that it served as "good motivation" for him this year. Hojgaard said, via ASAP Sports:
"Obviously last year was a tough one. But it gave me good motivation for this year. You know, I tried to take it a bit more on, if that's the right word for it, but don't stress too much about not getting off to a good start or whatever it might be. It's a long season and you're going to get on a run at some point.
"Feel like I got off to a good start this year and had an average stretch of golf which is very normal, and then after the summer break, I came back, tried not to get ahead of myself and stayed patient," he added.
At the 2023 DP World Tour Championship, Rasmus Hojgaard had a rough start to the tournament. He shot a 74 in the opening round. However, he improved in the next few rounds, shooting 66 on the second day and 65 in the third round.
Unfortunately, Hojgaard struggled again in the final fourth round, shooting a 69 and settling for a T11 position alongside Tyrrell Hatton, Romain Langasque, and Antoine Rozner.
Rasmus Hojgaard takes the lead at the 2024 DP World Tour Championship
At the ongoing 2024 DP World Tour Championship, Rasmus Hojgaard has been impressive with his game. He started his outing with a round of 71, followed by another round of 67. In the third round, he shot six birdies on the front nine and took the lead in the game.
At the time of writing, Hojgaard is playing at 12-under. Rozner is in second place, tied with Rory McIlroy at 10-under. The tournament is a four-day event and will conclude on Sunday, November 17.