There’s nothing to simulate the cauldron of a Ryder Cup.

Rasmus Højgaard, 24, has already accomplished plenty in his young career. He’s a multi-time DP World Tour winner, including an epic battle with Rory McIlroy at last year’s Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down. He competed in the 2020 Olympic Games. He finished runner-up in the Race to Dubai standings and earned his PGA TOUR card for this season.

He’s still never faced the type of pressure he experienced when making his Ryder Cup debut at Bethpage Black. And just days after play wrapped, the Dane hopes that experience will propel him to a fruitful FedExCup Fall.

“One of the things that was so good from that week is learning, like, under the intense pressure, what part of the game needs improvement,” Højgaard said, “and that's what I'm going to take with me from that week.”

Højgaard served as Team Europe’s 12th man, playing a team-low two matches at Bethpage Black. He lost 6 and 5 to Cameron Young and Justin Thomas in Friday Four-ball, playing alongside Ludvig Åberg. Then, after sitting all day Saturday, he lost 1-up to Ben Griffin in Sunday Singles.

Nonetheless, Højgaard spoke glowingly of the experience and being part of the first away team to win the Ryder Cup since 2012. He was in the team room in 2023, serving as player support to his brother Nicolai Højgaard. This year, the roles were reversed. Europe returned 11 of 12 players from Italy two years ago, with Ramsus the only newcomer.

The main issue in his game at Bethpage Black that he hopes to address: putting. While much of the European team rolled the rock, Højgaard ranked last on the team in Strokes Gained: Putting under the acute pressure of the Ryder Cup.

It’s common to see players break through after appearing in national team competitions. Famously, Scottie Scheffler had not won a PGA TOUR event when he played on the 2021 Ryder Cup team. He’s won 19 TOUR events since. Russell Henley was one of the last players on the 2024 Presidents Cup team, and he parlayed that experience and confidence boost into a career year on TOUR, winning once and climbing as high as No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Højgaard would settle for top 50 in the world at year’s end. He voiced that as a top priority for this fall, along with securing his TOUR card for next season. Entering the Sanderson Farms, Højgaard is 87th in the FedExCup Fall standings and 58th in the OWGR.

The Dane plans to play as much as he needs to realize those goals. For now, he plans to play this week, the Baycurrent Classic, the Bank of Utah Championship and the World Wide Technology Championship.

“As many tournaments as it takes,” Højgaard said.

There’s still an outside chance Højgaard could earn his TOUR card through the DP World Tour standings again. The top-10 eligible players in the season-ending Race to Dubai standings will earn TOUR cards for 2026. Højgaard is 18th among those players. But with a heavy PGA TOUR schedule over the next month, the Dane appears to be picking the U.S. path.

That, despite his fatigue from a crazy Ryder Cup week – and ensuing celebration – begins this week at The Country Club of Jackson.