Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard will make a welcome return to Al Hamra Golf Club in February as he aims to defend his Ras Al Khaimah Championship title

The 21-year-old will be joined by 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Classic champion Ryan Fox and twin brother Rasmus for the $2 million DP World Tour event on February 2-5.

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The Dane battled to his second DP World Tour title at last season’s tournament, winning by four strokes from Jordan Smith as he carded a four-under final round.

As Højgaard wobbled during the last day at Al Hamra, Smith moved two strokes ahead with six to play. But the youngster kept his cool and finished with three birdies and an eagle to seal the famous victory.

The tournament will be the last of the ‘UAE Swing’ series of events at the start of the year. It follows on from the Hero Cup — a new team match play event — and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Dubai Desert Classic, the first two Rolex Series events of the 2023 season.

“It’s always nice having the opportunity to defend a title and I’m really looking forward to returning to Al Hamra next year,” said Højgaard. “It was a great final-day battle with Jordan, so to fight back the way I did on the back nine and win by four shots was really satisfying.

“It’s a great venue and the course really suits my eye, so hopefully I can feed off some good memories and have another strong week. It’ll be a great finish to the run of events we have in the UAE at the start of the year.”

Three-time DP World Tour winner Rasmus, Nicolai’s identical twin brother, will be lining up once again alongside compatriot Thomas Bjørn, who famously captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory at Le Golf National in 2018.

New Zealand’s Fox, who won the Ras Al Khaimah Classic as part of a double-header at the venue earlier this year, will be looking for a similar bright start to the season as he went on to have a stellar campaign in 2022 following his triumph in RAK. He finished second to Rory McIlroy on the DP World Tour Rankings.