Nicolai Hojgaard goes from late third
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — They say the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. For Nicolai Hojgaard from Denmark, it may have ended there Saturday.
For one brief moment with the sun starting to duck below the tall Georgia pines, Hojgaard surged into sole possession of the third-round lead at the Masters after stringing together birdies at 8, 9 and 10.
And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.
The world’s 38th-ranked player bogeyed the next five holes, beginning at the famed Amen Corner and shot 40 on the back nine for a 2-over 74 to fall to 2-under 214, leaving him five shots behind leader and playing partner Scottie Scheffler. That will make it difficult for Hojgaard to become the first Masters newcomer to win at Augusta National since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Hojgaard has never won a PGA Tour event, let alone a major so pressure may have been a factor.