Rasmus Hojgaard goes Ryder Cup win to Sanderson Farms Championship on PGA Tour

• Rasmus Hojgaard is competing in the Sanderson Farms Championship after a Ryder Cup win.
• Hojgaard described the Ryder Cup as a stressful and pressure-filled situation.

JACKSON, Miss. — It's something Rasmus Hojgaard hasn't experienced before.

The pressure-filled situations at the Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. The raucous crowd. All the way up to the aftermath of the celebrations that ensued. A rapid turnaround from a jubilant 2025 Ryder Cup win to begin preparing for a PGA Tour event in a short amount of time.

"I think for most of the guys that were there last week, it was a completely different environment, and especially for me," Hojgaard said. "I've never experienced such a stressful and pressure-filled situation as that."

Hojgaard was included on the 2025 European Ryder Cup team that beat the U.S. 15-13. Hojgaard went 0-2, however, losing 6 and 5 with Ludvig Aberg to Justin Thomas and Cameron Young in Friday afternoon fourballs and 1 up to Ben Griffin in Sunday singles.

"It was certainly a different environment being a player and being there with everyone, especially in New York, and it was super special," Hojgaard said.

"I think there's certainly things in my game that I can improve," he said. "That's one of the things that was so good from that week is learning, like, under the intense pressure, what part of the game needs improvement, and that's what I'm going to take with me from that week."

Preparation at the Jackson Country Club means he needs to shift his focus from playing team golf to focusing on himself and winding down from a long week.

"I guess it certainly gives you confidence being a part of the team and being there, playing golf in that environment for sure," he said. "Again, now it's back to being on my own again and having my own team do our thing. Again, it's going to be completely different being out there this week, but again, I'm going to treat it as any other event."

While Hojgaard comes off the Ryder Cup win, he still has goals for the end of 2025, with Sanderson Farms being one of them.

He is safe at No. 87 in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of next year but he needs to remain in the top 100 with a few tournaments left to play, which is why a win or good finish this weekend is a big goal of his.

"I'm in a situation right now where I don't have my card secured, so that's obviously a big part of this year," he said. "Again, get myself back into top 50 in the world is a big thing for me as well. I guess those are the two big things for the rest of the year now so that next year's schedule looks a bit better."

Hojgaard tees off at 9 a.m. ET, about two hours before his twin brother Nicolai, a member of the 2023 Ryder Cup, starts his first round.

Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.