Rory McIlroy names the two young golfers he thinks have ‘huge potential’ and are the ‘future of the European game’

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It was notable that 34-year-old Rory McIlroy was the third oldest player on the European Ryder Cup team in 2023, with only Justin Rose and Shane Lowry older than the four-time major champion.

Six of Luke Donald‘s team in Rome were still in their 20s as Europe regained the Ryder Cup with a largely comfortable victory. Their performance certainly bodes well for the future of European golf.

And with that, it says something when Rory McIlroy picks out two players in particular, as the future of the game on the continent – including one of his teammates from that week at Marco Simone.

McIlroy is on course to win the Order of Merit on the DP World Tour for a sixth time this week, with only Thriston Lawrence able to stop him. The man behind the pair however, did get one over on McIlroy at the Irish Open earlier this year, with Rasmus Hojgaard beating McIlroy by one shot that week at Royal County Down.

Rory McIlroy lauds the potential of Rasmus Hojgaard and Nicolai Hojgaard

Of course, it was his brother Nicolai Hojgaard who made his Ryder Cup debut last year. And he followed that by winning the DP World Tour Championship 12 months ago.

And speaking ahead of this year’s event, McIlroy suggested that he has extremely high hopes for the two Danes.

“I’ve always been super impressed by both of them, and it still surprises me how young they are. Because I think about when I was their age, I was nowhere near as polished as a player and as a person, I think they are two incredibly impressive young men that are the future of the European game. They have amazing potential,” he said.

“Honestly if you had asked me three years ago, I probably would have said Rasmus would be the one to make the Ryder Cup team first and it ended up being Nicolai. They are both incredible players. They are from a wonderful family. I’ve gotten to know their dad pretty well, as well.

“They are just – it’s funny to say this, that they are good kids, and I’m, whatever, 13 or 14 years older than them. They have huge potential. They have great games. They have very good heads on their shoulders. Yeah, they have got bright futures.”

Brothers who have played in the same Ryder Cup

The Hojgaard twins will be looking to become the first pair of brothers to play in the same Ryder Cup since 2010 at next year’s event at Bethpage.

On that occasion, it was Francesco and Edoardo Molinari who represented Europe at Celtic Manor. The Italians were the third set of brothers to compete in the event.

Interestingly, USA are yet to have brothers represent their Ryder Cup team in the same year. But it has been a little more common on the opposite side of the Atlantic.