THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP// DAY 2
This year’s last major tournament ended like two of the previous three: Viktor Hovland (26) goes home after missing the cut.
TROON, SCOTLAND: Isn’t it typical? For two days, you can read the greens from every angle, warm up for the rounds with a level, and use your feet and trained eyes to size up the situation – and then you sink your longest putt on the last green when you’ve basically given up.
Admittedly, it wasn’t long, just two and a half meters. But it was tricky, a good half meter longer than anything he had made in two days, and it drew applause and cheers from the stands around the 18th green at Royal Troon.
But Hovland’s apathetic reaction told it all. For the putt was also in vain.
Star Battle in the Wind
Ten over par after two rounds. 75 shots on Thursday, 77 shots on Friday. Four strokes behind the cut line at +6.
These are the brutal numbers for Viktor Hovland, and it hardly helps that several big names fell easily to the demands of Royal Troon this week.
Tiger Woods (+14), Rory McIlroy (+11), Bryson DeChambeau (+9), Tommy Fleetwood (+9) and Ludvig Åberg (+9) are just some of the stars who on Saturday are sitting on the flight home – just like the only Norwegian in the field.
For Hovland, all chances for weekend play vanished on hole 16 when he had to drop after his tee shot. From there on in, it was a resigned and dejected 26-year-old who completed this year’s last major tournament.
It’s easy to understand the disappointment. The heavy steps out of the score reception. The gaze down at the ground. The refusal to be interviewed. And the quick walk to the waiting Mercedes that swiftly took him away from the place.
A Season of Trials
Viktor Hovland has won six times on the PGA Tour. Four times he has finished second, five times third, and on 26 occasions he has been among the top ten. No other Norwegian male has ever come close to that.
But Hovland’s big dream of winning a major is still unfulfilled. It blew away again this year.
For a few weeks – perhaps months – last fall, he was the world’s best golfer. When he held the FedEx Cup trophy overhead at East Lake, no one disagreed. Not even Hovland, who barely raised an eyebrow when the claim was made.
He knew it; he felt it. He could also envision a way forward. He wanted to get even better. But it’s hard to see what awaits over the hill on roads that incline upward.
After last year’s jubilant season, Viktor Hovland has now played 13 tournaments on the PGA Tour. So far, he has no wins and no second-place finishes. A third place from the PGA Championship is the big highlight, but it is also his only Top 10 placement.
You don’t gain confidence from that. Not enough to challenge the best, certainly not on a challenging Open course under tough conditions.
Unlucky with the Wind
The two days at Royal Troon were links golf at its toughest. And Hovland was just one of the victims.
You may well make a plan in links golf, but be prepared to throw it out the window. You can rely on numbers and statistics, but you must also use your imagination.
For links golf is not just math. It demands artistry and craftsmanship. And to tell the truth, Hovland wasn’t among the lucky ones either.
On Thursday, he teed off as the wind and rain intensified, and the wind gauge definitely moved faster on Friday afternoon than it did for players who had tee times earlier in the day.
But you don’t go to the Scottish west coast to complain about the weather. It rains 265 days a year here, and it’s always windy. Sometimes you get lucky with the conditions, other times, you’re the one who suffers.
In the morning hours on Friday, the Open winner from Royal Portrush in 2019, Shane Lowry, seized the opportunity to climb to the top of the leaderboard, seven under par. Another veteran in links golf, Justin Rose, is hot on his heels at minus five.
But it’s other numbers that Hovland seeks answers to.
Brutal Putting Statistics
Over the course of two days at Royal Troon, he was again among the best from the tee. Strokes Gained numbers show that he gained more than 2.3 strokes with his tee shots.
But the approaches were rarely close to the flag, and up until the last green, his longest putt was only six feet, just under two meters.
Statistics can be as brutal as the Scottish summer weather. On the list for the total number of feet that different players sank during the first two rounds of this year’s edition of The Open, Hovland (88.6 feet) has only four names behind him – Ben Griffin, John Daly, Ernie Els, and Romain Langasque.
The last two withdrew due to back pain, and Daly because he had pain in his leg.
P.S.! Now it’s time to head home to Norway. Already on Tuesday, that familiar smile will likely return at the NextUp event at Oslo GK. Then Hovland will be ready to inspire the next generation of Norwegian golfers with his own demonstration and show match.
After that, the Olympic Games in Paris await.
Here is the leaderboard