Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and then became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour (at the 2020

Puerto Rico Open The Puerto Rico Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was first played in 2008. It is the only PGA Tour event ever held in Puerto Rico. The tournament is played at the Coco Beach Golf Course (previously Trump International ...

) and on the European Tour (at the 2021 BMW International Open). Hovland picked up his second and third PGA Tour wins at the 2020 and 2021

Mayakoba Golf Classic The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, held at Playa del Carmen, south of Cancún. It debuted in February 2007 PGA Tour, 2007 and was the first PGA Tour event in Mexico this ...

Amateur career

Hovland played college golf at Oklahoma State University. In 2014, Hovland won the Norwegian Amateur Golf Championship. Hovland won the 2018 U.S. Amateur, the first Norwegian player to do so, and earned invitations into the

2019 Masters Tournament The 2019 Masters Tournament was the 83rd edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships in 2019, held between April 11 and 14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Tiger Woods won his fifth Gr ...

, the 2019 U.S. Open, and the

2019 Open Championship The 2019 Open Championship was the 148th Open Championship, played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was the second Open Championship at Portrush, which last hosted in 1951, won by Max Faulkner. Royal Portrush sa ...

. He played in the 2018

Emirates Australian Open The Australian Open, owned and run by Golf Australia, is the oldest and most prestigious golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The Open was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year. The winner of the tournament ...

as an amateur, finishing tied for 13th place. Hovland was the low amateur in the

, finishing three under par in a tie for 32nd. With this performance he rose to number one in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...

. In the 2019 U.S. Open, he finished in 12th place and was low amateur with a score of 280. This was the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in the U.S. Open, breaking the previous record of 282, set by

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

in 1960. He became the first player to win low amateur honors at both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same season since Matt Kuchar in 1998. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Ben Hogan Award, awarded to the best college player in the United States.

Professional career

2019

Hovland turned professional following the 2019 U.S. Open, and made his professional debut at the Travelers Championship in June. By doing so, he forfeited his automatic entry to the

. In August, Hovland finished tied for second in the

Albertsons Boise Open The Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron is a professional golf tournament in Idaho on the Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet ...

, part of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. This finish secured him a PGA Tour card for the 2019–20 season. Hovland set a PGA Tour record for most consecutive rounds in the 60s with 19 lasting into the second round of the

CJ Cup The CJ Cup is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The tournament was played for the first time in October 2017 at the start of the 2017–18 season, and is sponsored by CJ Group. The first three editions were played at the Nine Bridges ...

in South Korea.

2020: First win

In February, Hovland became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour when he won the

. In December, Hovland picked up his second PGA Tour win, and his first at a full-strength PGA Tour tournament, by birdieing the 72nd hole at the

2021

In June, Hovland became the first Norwegian to win on the European Tour when he won the BMW International Open. In September, Hovland played on the European team in the

2021 Ryder Cup The 43rd Ryder Cup Matches were held in the United States from September 24–26, 2021, on the Straits course at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisconsin. Europe was the holder of the Ryder Cup after its win over the United States in 2018 at Le Golf ...

at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. The U.S. team won 19–9 and Hovland went 0–3–2 and tied his Sunday singles match against Collin Morikawa. In November, Hovland successfully defended his title at the

World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba The World Wide Technology Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, contested at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal golf course within the Diamante Cabo San Lucas resort. It debuted in February 2007 and was the f ...

Playa del Carmen, Mexico Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 people ...

. He won by four strokes and set a tournament record of 23 under par. A month later, Hovland won the Hero World Challenge, finishing at 18 under par, one shot ahead of Scottie Scheffler. Key moments in this win were back-to-back eagles in the final round on holes 14 and 15. This win cemented his new nickname as the "Resort King" of golf, as his first 5 professional wins were outside of the

Contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, 4 of which around the Caribbean Sea.

2022

Hovland started the year with a top-5 finish at the European Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January. The following week he won the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic; after shooting a final-round 66, he made a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to defeat Richard Bland. The win lifted him to number three in the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

. In December 2022, Hovland successfully defended his title at the Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas, matching Tiger Woods as the only player with back-to-back wins in the event.

Amateur wins

*2013 Norgescup 7, Team Norway Junior Tour 6 *2014 Alcaidesa Winter Open, Titleist Tour 2, Norwegian Amateur Golf Championship (Norgesmesterskapet) *2018 Valspar Collegiate, U.S. Amateur, Royal Oaks Intercollegiate *2019 The Prestige Source:

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (3)

European Tour wins (2)

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (2)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' LA = Low amateur
"T" = tied for place
WD = withdrew
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2019 Masters – 2021 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (current)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

Team appearances

Amateur *

Summer Youth Olympics The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

(representing Norway):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2015 (tie) * European Amateur Team Championship (representing Norway):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Eisenhower Trophy (representing Norway):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* Arnold Palmer Cup (representing Europe):

Sources: Professional *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

(representing Europe):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hovland, Viktor Norwegian male golfers PGA Tour golfers Olympic golfers of Norway Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Golfers at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Oklahoma State Cowboys golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from Oslo People from Stillwater, Oklahoma 1997 births Living people