Viktor Hovland

Born and raised in Oslo, Norway, where his parents still live, Hovland is known for making history as the first Norwegian player to win the U.S. Amateur (2018) and the first player from Norway to compete in the Masters. He played soccer as a youth, but golf became his sole focus in the 7th grade. His father, Harald, who became enamored with the game when he worked in the United States (St. Louis), exposed him to the game after buying a set of clubs upon his return to Norway. Viktor was 3 or 4 years old at the time. By the time he was 11, Viktor had played more golf than other sports, and even though the game wasn't widely popular in Norway, he worked on his swing by hitting balls on a large soccer field near his house.
Hovland formulated his plans to play collegiate golf during his high-school years in Norway. Some of his friends turned professional and played on the ECCO Tour or the Scandinavian mini-tour, but Hovland felt his game was not ready yet. In his senior year, several American college coaches recruited him. He visited Texas Tech, TCU, Tennessee, and then Oklahoma State. He decided on OSU when he saw the Karsten Creek course and all the trophies, along with the history of Oklahoma State. He knew it was the place for him.
Hovland was nothing short of dominant in becoming the first Norwegian to win the 2018 U.S. Amateur and the first to qualify for the Masters. He trailed for only one hole in six rounds of match play and tied the record for the fewest holes of match play by a champion since 1979 with 104. He cruised to a 6-and-5 victory in the championship match over Devon Bling.
Two months before, Hovland helped Oklahoma State win the NCAA title on its home course, Karsten Creek, in Stillwater. As a sophomore, he earned First-Team All-America honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America and Golfweek magazine. He was an International team member for the 2018 Palmer Cup and advanced to the round of 16 at the 2018 Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A at Royal Aberdeen. Hovland finished runner-up at the 2016 European Amateur, losing on the seventh hole of a playoff. He helped Norway earn a share of 5th place at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship in the Republic of Ireland.
With his OSU coach Alan Bratton on the bag at the 2019 Masters, Hovland shot 285 to finish T-32nd and his 3-under total earned him Low-Amateur honors.
At the 2019 Big 12 Championship, Hovland finished 2nd, a shot back of winner Hayden Springer. Hovland shot 4 over par in the NCAAs and finished T-15th. OSU was upset in the semifinals of match play by Texas. At the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Hovland finished T-12th, the best amateur finish in 50 years, and became the first player since Matt Kuchar in 1998 to be the low amateur in both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. His 280 score became the lowest score by an amateur at the U.S. Open.
After the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Hovland turned professional and finished T-54th in his first start at the Travelers Championship. Was T-12th at the Rocket Mortgage and 3M Open, T-16th at the John Deere Classic, and his 4th place finish at the Wyndham Championship gave him a chance into the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. With a T-11th at the Nationwide Children's and T-2nd at the Albertsons Boise Open, a shot back of winner Matthew NeSmith, Hovland earned PGA Tour membership because he was 6th on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals 25.
2020 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events making 17 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 20th in the FedExCup standings. He started the season T-10th in the Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. He became the first player from Norway to win on the PGA Tour with his victory at the Puerto Rico Open. The win came in his 17th start on the PGA Tour at age 22 years, 158 days. He was 3rd at the Workday Charity Open, four shots back of the Morikawa/Thomas playoff. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-18th at the Northern Trust, T-40th at the BMW Championship, and T-20th at the Tour Championship. He was one of eight PGA Tour rookies to qualify for the FedExCup playoffs and one of two to advance to the Tour Championship (Scottie Scheffler was the other). He was the only rookie to win on the PGA Tour during the season. He played in six European Tour events, making five cuts with one top-ten. Best finish, T-3rd at the D.P. World Tour Championship, two shots back of winner Matthew Fitzpatrick. Was 27th in the Race to Dubai.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events making 22 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He was T-5th in the FedExCup standings. He started his season T-13th at the U.S. Open. He won the Mayakoba Golf Classic, earning his second PGA Tour title in his 35th career start. He birdied the 72nd hole to defeat Aaron Wise by a shot. He became the fifth European player since World War II to win multiple PGA Tour titles before turning 24, joining Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm. He was T-2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, five shots back of winner Patrick Reed. Was T-6th at the Saudi International, four shots back of winner Dustin Johnson. T-5th at the Genesis Invitational, five shots back of the Max Homa/Tony Finau playoff. He was T-2nd at the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, three shots back of winner Collin Morikawa. Was T-3rd at the Valspar Championship, shot 65, and finished four shots back of winner Sam Burns. He was T-3rd at the Wells Fargo Championship and was two shots back of winner Rory McIlroy. After a first-round 74 at the U.S. Open, Hovland was forced to withdraw after getting sand in his eye, and his vision started to deteriorate. He flew to Germany and won the BMW International Open by two shots over Martin Kaymer. After that, Hovland planned to take some time off for a week's vacation in Norway. He also was going to play some golf, and one of his scheduled golf days was at Larvik Golf Club outside of Oslo. Someone saw Hovland's name on the tee sheet, took a screenshot, and stuck it on Facebook, which created between 200 and 300 folks to watch Hovland play. The following week played at the British Open for the first time and finished T-12th. In the FedExCup playoffs, he was T-43rd at the Northern Trust, T-17th at the BMW Championship, and a final round of 65 finished T-5th at the Tour Championship. He represented Norway at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-14th. He played in his first Ryder Cup and finished with a 0-3-2 record. In the singles, Hovland halved his singles match with Collin Morikawa.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was T-15th in the FedExCup standings. He won Mayakoba's World Wide Technology Championship for the second consecutive year. Hovland shot a final-round 67 to beat Carlos Ortiz by four shots and become the first player in tournament history to successfully defend the title and the first to do so at any PGA Tour event since Brooks Koepka at the 2019 PGA Championship. It was his third PGA Tour victory, with each of the three coming outside the United States. His next start came at the unofficial Hero World Challenge, and he won it by a shot over Scottie Scheffler. Again, the victory came outside of US soil. After finishing T-30th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions returned to the DP World Tour and was T-4th at Abu Dhabi, two shots back of winner Thomas Pieters. Next week shot a final-round 66 at the Dubai Desert Classic and beat Richard Bland with a birdie on the first extra hole. He finished T-4th at the Genesis Invitational, five shots back of winner Joaquin Niemann. Was the second-round leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shot 75-74 to finish T-2nd a shot back of winner Scottie Scheffler. He was T-9th at the Players Championship, his third consecutive top-10. With rounds of 68-66-66 held a share of the lead entering the final round of the British Open with Rory McIlroy and shot a final-round 74 to finish T-4th, his first career top-10 in a major championship. In the FedEx Cup playoffs was T-20th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, T-35th at the BMW Championship, and T-15th at the Tour Championship.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, making 23 cuts with nine top-ten finishes. He was first in the FedExCup standings. In his season debut finished T-5th at the Zozo Championship, three shots back of winner Keegan Bradley. He finished T-10th as the two-time defending champion at Mayakoba's World Wide Technology Championship. He won the unofficial Hero World Challenge for a second straight year by two shots over Scottie Scheffler, who was second for a second consecutive year. He was T-10th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Finished T-3rd at the Players Championship, seven shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler. He opened the Masters with a 64 to share the lead, shot 73-70-74 to finish T-7th, six shots back of winner Jon Rahm. Held a share of the 36-hole lead at the PGA Championship, shot 70-68 over the weekend to finish T-2nd two shots back of the winner Brooks Koepka. Defeated Denny McCarthy with a par on the first playoff hole to win the Memorial Tournament. It was his fourth PGA Tour title but the first one in the main 48 states. in his 91st start at the age of 25 years, 8 months, 17 days. With scores of 71-71-69-70, he became the first player to record four scores of 69 or higher and go on to win since Phil Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship and the first outside of a major since Brandt Snedeker at the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. Was 19th at the U.S. Open and T-13th at the British Open. He ended his season with a bang and was T-13th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Shot a final-round 61, including a 28 on the back nine, to win the BMW Championship by two strokes over third-round co-leaders Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler. Earned his sixth PGA Tour title in his 97th PGA TOUR start. Final-round 61 was his first score of 61 or better on Tour and the lowest finish by a winner on TOUR since Tom Kim at the 2022 Wyndham Championship (61). Was the first score of 61 or better in the final round in FedExCup Playoffs history. He carded 10 birdies in the final round, his first career round on the PGA Tour with 10 birdies or more. The next week won the Tour Championship by five shots over Xander Schauffele to earn his first FedExCup title. Entered the week No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, beginning at 8-under via FedExCup Starting Strokes, and tied Schauffele for the lowest 72-hole score of any player in the field. Made his second consecutive appearance at the Ryder Cup. Was 2-0-0 in Foursomes and 0-1-1 in Four-ball. Defeated Collin Morikawa, 4 and 3, in Singles for a 3-0-1 record.
2024 Notes: Many will question what Hovland is doing but six months after winning the FedEx Cup along with over $32 million in earnings and FedExCup bonus money, he fired one coach, hired another, and is now working with another. Its hard to explain is his musical chairs among instructors - from Jeff Smith to Joe Mayo and now taking his tips from former Tour pro Grant Waite. The mystery was the departure of Mayo who was responsible in improving one of Hovlands greatest weakness, chipping. Since the change Hovland goes into the Masters with his best finish being T-19th at the Genesis and many wonder if he can peice together something like he had last year.