There have been siblings in professional golf in the past. Multiple Major winner Brooks Koepka has a brother, Chase, who has played on the Challenge Tour and European Tour.
There have been sisters, too, with Jessica and Nelly Korda, but never in the modern era of golf have identical twins found themselves in the running for the Open Championship after the first two days.
Danish brothers Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard sit at five under par and four under par respectively after two rounds at the Portrush links.
Rasmus was three under for Friday’s round, carding six birdies and three bogeys in his 68, with Nicolai signing for five birdies and three bogeys for his two-under 69.
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Going into the weekend that puts the Danish duo in a strong position to compete for the Claret Jug come Sunday afternoon.
Their climbs up the scoreboard on Friday threw up an interesting dilemma when Rasmus was asked whether he was for or against his brother as both were well up the scoreboard at the halfway point.
“I’m going to root for him until we are on Sunday back nine,” said Rasmus, still exhilarated by his birdie finish to the second round after he sank a 32-foot putt on the 18th green to end his day in style.

But this week’s performance came as something of a surprise.
“I haven’t shown the best form so far this summer,” added Rasmus. “Yeah, I’ve tried to stay patient and work on my things. So far this week it’s been in a place where I can manage it.”
So, what’s the difference?
“That’s a good question. I don’t know,” he said.
“Last week was very ... it seems like everything was off, and this week I’ve sort of managed that my tee shot has been better apart from one drive today. So, I’ve put myself in better position off the tee. That sort of takes a little bit of pressure off the round.”
Rasmus was the 12th group out on Friday with Nicolai playing in the 27th three-ball, where he shared the round with Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington.
“Yeah, it’s cool to see Ras playing well this week,” said Nicolai after his round. “I saw him quite early on the leaderboard, and I kind of wanted to follow it up. A little frustrated I didn’t manage to get to five [under] where he is. I felt like the round had potential. But yeah, happy for him.

“I cheer him on and happy to see him play well, but I also want to beat him. It’s a good relationship, and hopefully we’ll have a good weekend and maybe battle it out on Sunday.”
That would be an interesting final day if the pair found themselves paired together. But the maturity and mutual regard they have for each other hasn’t always been a feature of the brothers’ relationship.
Some years back as junior players they regularly banged heads and argued, especially during the early golf competitions.
They have said that they didn’t support each other as much as they do now and that their focus and competitive energy went into trying to beat each other.
Sons of an airline pilot, they say they learned structure and discipline from their father. But from sibling rivalry they have gone on to make history already this year, after the Billund natives became the first twins to play in The Masters.
“We played some amateur events where we were in a playoff, and it was pretty tense,” said Nicolai. “But we’ve tried it a few times. Now our relationship is better, and back then we couldn’t handle those situations. We can do that now.
“We couldn’t handle each other’s success when we were younger, but we can do that now and support each other and get motivated by each other. When you get older, you get slightly more mature.”
Still only 24, there is a lot of road ahead. Get used to the Hojgaard twins lighting up scoreboards for the next few decades.