'Unreal' - Nicolai Hojgaard Holes Monster Putt On First Hole As A Ryder Cup Player

Nerves? What nerves? Team Europe's Danish rookie, Nicolai Hojgaard eased himself into his first ever Ryder Cup match by holing a monster putt for birdie on the first hole at Marco Simone on Friday afternoon.

Hojgaard sat out Friday morning's foursomes action as Europe romped to a first-ever clean sweep out of the gate, putting the home team in command and well on their way to recovering the Ryder Cup trophy.

But having had time to nervously watch most of his teammates kick off their individual campaigns, the 22-year-old showed very few signs of apprehension once his own round began by giving himself a long-range birdie chance on the par-four opener via two clean strikes.

It was an opportunity Hojgaard took with both hands as the rookie perfectly weighted a subtly-sweeping right-to-left putt down the slope and into the front of the hole.

The Dane's brilliance gave Team Europe an early lead in their match with Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler, although they American pair did not take long to fight back against Hojgaard and partner, Jon Rahm.

LIV golfer Koepka sunk a par putt on the third after two wayward tee shots from the European duo.

WATCH NICOLAI HOJGAARD’S MONSTER OPENING BIRDIE PUTT

Hojgaard's unshakeable demeanour was clearly something that drew European captain Luke Donald into selecting the Dane - alongside Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka - as one of his six wildcard picks.

Speaking about the 22-year-old once the chosen half-a-dozen were unveiled, Donald said: "He’s a young superstar. The world is his oyster when it comes to golf. We’re seeing the beginning of stuff he’s already accomplished at such a young age. Obviously, part of me having six picks was that I wanted some very in-form players, and what he did the last two weeks was very, very special."

Another example of Nicolai's maturity and composure occurred when the twin had to fill in for his brother Rasmus at the Hero Cup at the start of 2023 due to an injury.

The then 21-year-old contributed 3.5 points to help Continental Europe down Team GB&I 14.5 - 10.5 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Discussing that achievement and the way Hojgaard carried himself during the competition, Donald said: "He had to step in at the last minute for his brother, Rasmus, who is also a great future star and is a star right now and will be a star for many Ryder Cups, I believe. Unfortunately he got injured.

"He had to come in. It was an awkward situation, and he just took to it like a duck to water. He stepped in. He was the most impressive player of the week. His statistics were the most impressive.

"You got to look and see what he had inside of him in a match play and a team environment. Certainly that went towards some of those decisions with getting him being a pick."

Donald will be hoping Hojgaard can continue his encouraging start to life as a Ryder Cupper as Team Europe aim to build on their strong start in Rome.