Nicolai Hojgaard's wild Masters opening round featured some of everything

That was part of his best stretch, when he notched five birdies in a six-hole span (Nos. 3-8) to briefly move into a tie for the lead.

Per golf research analyst Justin Ray, he became the first golfer in 33 years to have five or more birdies and a double bogey or worse within his first nine holes at the Masters.

Hojgaard, 24, is in his second Masters after finishing tied for 16th (+2) in 2024.

Last year, Hojgaard shot a 67 in the opening round. On Masters Saturday, he briefly sat atop the leaderboard at seven-under par following three consecutive birdies on Nos. 8-10.

In some ways, his chaotic opening 18 holes this year mirrored his finish to the 2024 event. On the closing Sunday, Hojgaard's six birdies were offset by four bogeys, one double bogey and one quadruple bogey.

He'll be looking for a cleaner scorecard on Friday like the one his twin brother, Rasmus Hojgaard, produced later in the day. 

Per the Los Angeles Times, the brothers made Masters history as the first set of twins to play in the same event. While they look identical, their performances were anything but. Rasmus began his day with eight consecutive pars, four more than his twin had in a full round.   

Nicolai experienced enough highs and lows for one tournament in a single day, and he must scale another peak — while avoiding the valleys — on Friday to make it to the weekend.