Nicolai Højgaard may have reason to be feeling the fatigue after a long season on the road stateside but he is energised by a return to Crans-Montana as he bids to emulate twin brother Rasmus by becoming a winner at the Omega European Masters.
Nicolai has largely plied his trade this season on the PGA TOUR, making it through to the FedExCup PlayOffs for the first time.
Across 21 starts, he registered four top tens - two as a runner-up - to finish 35th on the FedExCup Standings and just fall short of making it to last week's season-ending Tour Championship.
After a one-week break, the 25-year-old Dane is back into competition mode as he begins a three-event run on the DP World Tour that will also include appearances at the Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.
This week, he forms part of a strong international field that includes 2021 winner Rasmus at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club bidding to claim his fourth DP World Tour title.
"I feel like the game is in a good place," said Nicolai. "It's been a long season [on the PGA TOUR], but I've been really excited to come back to Europe and play.
"It's always a nice week to look forward to."
Asked whether it is tough to make the quick transition from playing in America to an extended stint on golf's global Tour, he added: "Maybe a little bit because you feel like the season, everything you've played this year is now finished.
"So you've got to refocus and set new goals. But as I said, there's some really good events coming up here in Europe now and I'm excited to play."
Nicolai is making his fifth appearance in Switzerland, having made his tournament debut in 2022 - a year after fellow Ryder Cup winner Rasmus won the title on debut.
While Nicolai may not boast the enviable record of his brother, who was tied second last year, a top-five finish in 2023 should provide him with further reason he can emerge as the king of the mountains and adorn the red jacket.
"I played well a few years ago here, so I feel like I got decent memories here as well," said World Number 39 Nicolai.
"[Rasmus] is a specialist around this place, so we always play a practice round."
Unlike last year, when heavy fog caused delays, the forecast is set fair for this week and few will come into the tournament with greater confidence than Rasmus.
The World Number 76 came close to winning his sixth DP World Tour title and second on home soil at the Danish Golf Championship last month, finishing runner-up behind countryman Jeff Winther.
He has since spent the last two weeks in Denmark but he is now excited to embrace all the comes with spending a week at altitude in the Swiss Alps.
"It’s a fun golf course," he said. "It can be a little quirky off the tee at times. You really have to control your approach game here, which I quite like.
"You have to fly them down, control the spin, especially when you’re adjusting to five, seven, ten per cent of the altitude and the heat at times.
How the Højgaards compare at Crans-sur-Sierre
| Year | Rasmus Højgaard | Nicolai Højgaard |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | DNP |
| 2022 | MC | T29 |
| 2023 | MC | T5 |
| 2024 | T17 | MC |
| 2025 | T2 | MC |
"It’s a fun week when you have to work all of that out, but also just the town itself is amazing. You can walk anywhere and the food is great.
"The rough just off the fairways is thicker, especially here on 18. If you hit it just left of the fairway, which is not a bad miss normally, it’s quite thick. I think they’ve let the rough grow a little bit."
This week's event began as the Swiss Open and is the 13th of 16 national opens on the DP World Tour schedule this season.
Part of the inaugural schedule in 1972, it has featured every year since barring the Covid-affected campaign of 2020 and the Højgaards are among a host of players who have it circled it as must-play year on year.
"It’s one of my favourites week and every year that I come here, I get great support," said Rasmus. "Hopefully I can play here for many years to come."
