Like Tiger Woods in 2006/07. In the Bahamas, Viktor Hovland wins the Hero World Challenge for the second consecutive year and becomes the second player in the history of the tournament, after the Californian, to achieve this feat.
Viktor Hovland, results
In Albany, on the island of New Providence, the Norwegian with a total of 272 (69 70 64 69, -16) surpassed the American Scottie Scheffler, 2/o with 274 (-14). A déjà vu. Also in 2021 the 25-year-old from Oslo had allowed himself the luxury of beating the American who this year, with a success, would have returned to first place in the world rankings.
No way. Once again, it was Hovland who took advantage of it. Which, thanks to this affirmation, has gone from 12th to 9th place in the world ranking. Not only. Awarded by Woods – the unofficial PGA Tour event is supported by the Tiger Foundation – he received a check for $1,000,000 for a total prize pool of $3,500,000.
“Winning this competition is always special. It was a nerve-wracking week, with the back nine holes of the last round proving to be really tricky. But I did it,” Hovland delighted. That he celebrated the exploit despite a ball sent into the water on the 18th hole, the last of the tournament.
Americans therefore defeated. Not only Scheffler, also Cameron Young, 3/o with 276 (-12), had to surrender. And with them Xander Schauffele, 4/o with 277 (-11), and Justin Thomas, 5/o with 278. Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour (and on the European Tour as an affiliate member).
Hovland is ranked as of 31 January 2022 as the world’s third best golfer and is thus the highest ranked golfer in the Nordics in addition to being number two in Europe.[1] In April 2019, he was ranked as the world’s best amateur golfer.
He became the first Norwegian to win a tournament on the PGA Tour when he won the Puerto Rico Open in 2020, and on the European Tour when he won the BMW International Open in 2021. He has a total of three victories on the PGA Tour and two on the European Tour.
After the 2019 US Open, Hovland turned professional. He played the last five regular tournaments on the PGA Tour in the 2018/2019 season thanks to sponsor invitations, but failed to make the top 125 who automatically qualified for the 2019/2020 season.
He therefore participated in the playoffs on the Korn Ferry tour, where he qualified for the PGA tour in two tournaments. Hovland delivered a very strong debut season on the PGA Tour with one victory (Puerto Rico Open in February), three top ten finishes and nine in the top 25 in a total of 20 tournaments.
He qualified for The Tour Championship and finished the season tied for 20th in the FedEx Cup with a total of $1,982,275 in prize money. Hovland finished No. 33 in the PGA Championship, the season’s only major tournament.
At the 2020 European Tour, Hovland finished 27th in the Race to Dubai rankings after third place in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in December. The 2020/2021 season opened with shared twelfth place in the US Open. His second career win on the PGA Tour came in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December.
Hovland finished 2020 as No. 14 in the world rankings and third in the FedEx Cup. In February 2021, Hovland was named player of the month on the European Tour after a second place in the WGC–Workday Championship and sixth place in the Saudi International.
In June 2021, Hovland once again made history by becoming the first male Norwegian golfer to win a tournament on the European Tour when he won the BMW International Open 2021.[13] In November, Hovland defended his title at Mayakoba, and in December he won his fifth tournament as a professional in the Hero World Challenge, which is an unofficial tournament on the PGA Tour with a limited starting field of only 20 players.
Victory number six came in the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour in January 2022 after he beat Richard Bland in a replay. Hovland ended the PGA Tour season in joint 15th place in the FedEx Cup, while he finished sixth overall in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. He ended 2022 by defending his victory in the Hero World Challenge.
