From the very beginnings of the European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, poignant and memorable moments between family members have been a constant theme.
This has manifested itself in a variety of ways over the past five decades, but one unique way has been through the impressive winning abilities showcased by more than one family member on Tour, whether that be through brothers who have hoisted titles, or indeed fathers and sons, or uncles and nephews.
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tour in 2022, we take a closer look at the four pairs of brothers who have etched their names in the history books by both earning at least one victory on Tour.
Antonio & German Garrido
Antonio Garrido and German Garrido are Spanish brothers who played on the Tour from its inception in 1972, and became the first pair of brothers to both have won individual titles.
Antonio (pictured above), older by two years and the more successful of the two Garrido brothers, notably claimed the very first official event – the 1972 Spanish Open. He won four further European Tour titles, played in the 1979 Ryder Cup side, and memorably teamed up with Seve Ballesteros to win the 1977 World Cup in the Philippines. After turning 50, Garrido played on the then-European Senior Tour, winning twice. His eldest son Ignacio won the 2003 PGA Championship.
A year after Antonio’s first title, his younger brother German earned his singular Tour win by one shot over Emilio Perera at the 1973 Madrid Open. German, a golfer who alternated between playing on Tour and his job as a club professional, had previously won on the European circuit twice - at the 1968 Madrid Open and 1972 Portuguese Open before the formation of the Tour.
Later, they become the first pair of brothers to join the European Senior Tour, while Antonio's son Ignacio would go on to join his father as both a Ryder Cup star and a multiple winner on Tour.
Seve & Manuel Ballesteros
The late Seve Ballesteros and his brother Manuel Ballesteros became the second set of brothers to lift trophies on Tour, although the career trajectories of this Spanish pair were very different.
With 50 European Tour wins, 37 other titles worldwide – including five majors – and a remarkable Ryder Cup record, Seve retains a CV that is yet to be matched by another European player.
After turning professional at the age of 16 in March 1974, he waited just two years to become a name the world would come to recognise as one of the greats. Seve finished second in the 1976 Open Championship to Johnny Miller, earned his first Tour win by eight strokes at the Dutch Open, before he went on to win the Order of Merit that same year. He would win his first of five Major titles at the Open Championship in 1979.
Arthritis in his back caused him to retire at 50, and his outstanding life was prematurely cut short after he lost a valiant battle with cancer at the age of 54.
Manuel Ballesteros was Seve’s older brother and manager, but an equally accomplished golfer. After starting as a caddie, Manuel turned professional in 1967 and, after two years in National Service, returned to tournament golf to finish runner-up to Peter Townsend in the 1971 Swiss Open.
His breakthrough on Tour came in 1983, when he won the Timex Open at Biarritz. That would be his only Tour victory, before he went on to play as a senior. A tie for fifth at the Dan Technology Senior Tournament of Champions in 2000 was his best performance.
Edoardo & Francesco Molinari
With multiple Tour wins, Edoardo and Francesco Molinari are two of the most recognisable brothers in the world of golf.
Edoardo was the first to make his mark as an amateur when he became the first European since 1911 to win the U.S. Amateur in 2005, but it was Francesco – the younger of the two – who earned the first professional title.
Francesco’s break-through victory came in his home country during the 2006 Telecom Italia Open, a title he would win again ten years later in 2016. It marked the first of six Tour titles, which also includes the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions, the 2012 Spanish Open, and the 2016 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The crowning moment of his career came at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie, where he became the first Italian golfer to win a Major. That same year he also claimed the Race to Dubai, became the first European player to win all five matches at a Ryder Cup during Europe’s victory at Le Golf National, and moved in to the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. His most recent victory was during the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.
Edoardo won five titles on the Challenge Tour between 2007 and 2009 – in addition to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup alongside Francesco - before claiming his first Tour win at the 2010 Barclays Scottish Open. He quickly followed it with another triumph the Johnnie Walker Classic a month later to earn a spot in the Ryder Cup team with Francesco, making them the fifth set of brothers to play in the biennial event.
Edoardo ended a seven year wait for a victory at the 2017 Trophée Hassan II, which remains his most recent win.
Rasmus & Nicolai Højgaard
The 21-year-old Danish twins broke on to the professional scene just three years ago and have quickly risen to prominence with a total of five Tour titles between them.
The pair excelled at amateur level, with Nicolai winning the European Amateur in 2018, the same year the pair represented the Danish side which won the Eisenhower Trophy and they also both represented Team Europe at the Junior Ryder Cup at Golf Disneyland in Paris.
Nicolai was the first of the two to make his mark on Tour with a runner-up finish to Sergio Garcia in the 2019 KLM Open, but it was Rasmus who would go on to produce a remarkable rookie season in 2020 while Nicolai went down the route of the Challenge Tour.
After clinching his first title with an eagle on the third play-off hole to capture the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December 2019, Rasmus would then defeat South Africa’s Justin Walters in a play-off to win the 2020 ISPS Handa UK Championship at the Belfry. In doing so, he became the second youngest player to achieve multiple wins on the Tour, after Matteo Manassero.
Then towards the end of 2021, the twins achieved an historic feat unlikely to be repeated when they became the first set of brothers to win back-to-back events. Rasmus had earned the third title of his career at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland and was stood at the 18th green watching on the very next week as Nicolai earned his first title with a one stroke victory at the DS Automobiles Italian Open.
Five months later, Nicolai claimed his second title after holding off Jordan Smith in a roller-coaster final round at the 2022 Ras al Khaimah Championship. With two DP World Tour crowns to his name he now sits just one win behind his twin brother Rasmus, and is currently the higher ranked player of the two in the Official World Golf Rankings at 78th.
