The internet’s favorite gator returns to golf course

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The way Viktor Hovland sees it, he has nothing to lose on Sunday. Win the Wyndham Championship, and the 21-year-old Norwegian barely three months removed from taking classes at Oklahoma State will be the newest-minted PGA TOUR member. He’ll be headed to New York City for THE NORTHERN TRUST and the FedExCup Playoffs. Should he finish in a two-way tie for second or better, he’ll have his TOUR card. If not, Hovland will have earned enough FedExCup points as a non-member to head to the Korn Ferry Tour finals where he’ll have another chance to earn playing privileges on TOUR for the 2019-20 season. Any of the three scenarios are well within the realm of possibility for Hovland, who shot a third-round 64 that moved him into a tie for fourth at 14 under, just three strokes off the lead held by Ben An. “To be in the spot where I am right now after college, that’s a pretty good spot to be in,â€� Hovland said. “I just try to take advantage of it.â€� Hovland, who earned low amateur honors at the Masters and U.S. Open this year, is one of several high profile collegians who turned pro this summer. Two of them, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa, have already won on the PGA TOUR – in their third and sixth starts as a pro, respectively. Their stunning success over the last month motivates Hovland. “Obviously, it does help because not even two months ago I played with them in a tournament in a national championship,â€� the Oslo native said. “I played with those guys for two, three years now and it’s cool to see them do really well. “Obviously, that kind of inspires me to think that I can do the same things as they’ve accomplished, but it’s not going to be given to you and you have to go out there and earn it.â€� Hovland, who is playing for pay for just the fifth time this season, teed off 20 minutes before Wolff and quickly climbed the leaderboard with five birdies in his first seven holes. Wolff noticed, and he was glad to see his former Oklahoma State teammate playing well. “It’s cool that he’s still up there,â€� said Wolff, who shot 67 on Saturday and is 11 under. “I already got my card and so did Collin. And so, I guess it’s time for him now. This the last event of the regular season, so hopefully he can make the most of it and join me and Collin in the Playoffs.â€� Hovland’s fast start Saturday had people wondering whether there might be another 59 like the one Brandt Snedeker shot a year ago at Sedgefield Country Club, a Donald Ross gem known for yielding low scores. After the 30 on the front, though, Hovland only managed two more birdies and bogeyed the 14th hole. “I was really feeling it … five under through seven is a good start,â€� Hovland said. “I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to keep that going because I was thinking something special was out there, but after birdie on 18, was nice to kind of give myself some confidence going into tomorrow.â€� Hovland led the field in three Strokes Gained categories – Off The Tee, Approach The Green and Total – on Saturday. Through three rounds, he ranks first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and second in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. He’s also first in driving distance and proximity to the hole. His putter has been inconsistent, though, which Hovland hopes to shore up on Sunday. He took 31 putts on Thursday, 29 on Friday and 26 in the third round. “Overall, I feel like I’m hitting it pretty good,â€� said Hovland, who has shot 64, 65 and 64 in the final round of his last three events. “There were a couple of bad shots here and there today, missed on a couple wrong sides I really shouldn’t have. But yeah, if I could make more putts, that would really help. “But it was nice to see some going in earlier in the round and I feel like that kind of gave me some more confidence.â€�

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2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta, Round 1 Scoring Conditions: Overall: -0.72 strokes per round Morning wave: -1.82 Afternoon wave: +0.39 Current cutline (top 65 and ties): 77 players at -1 or better (T61) Top 3 projected cutline probabilities: 1. 3 under par: 36.8% 2. 2 under par: 32.9% 3. 4 under par: 15.5% Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Jon Rahm (T1, -7, 31.1%) 2. Aaron Wise (T7, -6, 7.3%) 3. Sebastian Munoz (T11, -5, 4.0%) 4. Brendon Todd (T1, -7, 3.9%) 5. Aaron Rai (T7, -6, 3.9%) 6. Gary Woodland (T21, -4, 3.6%) 7. Trey Mullinax (T1, -7, 3.5%) 8. Charles Howell III (T11, -5, 3.2%) 9. Sahith Theegala (T7, -6, 3.1%) 10. Kurt Kitayama (T1, -7, 2.9%) NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Mexico Open at Vidanta, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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SOUTHPORT, England – Jason Day can hit his driver into places that few can. That’s normally a good thing. This time, though, it led to a rules change days before The Open Championship. Royal Birkdale’s 10th fairway was declared out-of-bounds for golfers playing the ninth hole. The internal out-of-bounds was instituted after Day’s caddie, Col Swatton, inquired about cutting the corner on No. 9 by hitting the tee shot down the next fairway. “The great thing about links golf is you can play a hole in multiple ways, and that’s one of the beauties of it,� R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said Wednesday. “But in this particular case … the only way you can get the ball onto the 10th fairway is to drive it straight over the top of the grandstand and then bring the ball back across the ninth green, across two opposing groups of people. “We felt that was just dangerous.� The ninth hole is a 416-yard, par-4 with a fairway that doglegs to the right about 280 yards from the tee, requiring players to hit something shorter than driver to keep their ball from running through the fairway. The 10th hole, a 402-yard, par-4, runs back toward the ninth tee. A player could get within 90 yards of the ninth green by hitting driver toward the 10th tee, Day said. While it was his caddie who enquired about the option, Day was unlikely to use the option. “I don’t think anyone was going to go down there. We just asked,� he said. “It is kind of a strange line.� Slumbers said he had not seen anyone attempt the shot during practice rounds, but the inquiry alone was enough for the R&A to take the step. There will not be white stakes on the 10th fairway. Instead, the out-of-bounds will be defined by the closely mown area. In addition to protecting the fans in and around the grandstands, the rule will protect players walking up the 10th fairway and directly into the alternate landing zone for No. 9. Slumbers noted that it’s “blind to the 10th fairway from the ninth tee.� Day was sympathetic to the safety concerns but didn’t think the out-of-bounds was warranted, since the option may not be used at all and the internal OB introduces a severe penalty for a wayward shot. “You can get an unlucky bounce. If you lose one in the wind, and it bounces awkwardly, and you’re a foot on the (10th) fairway, you’re out of bounds. It’s a little unfair,� Day said. “The R&A has obviously made that rule for a purpose.� The new rule means Day will no longer consider using driver off the ninth tee. “Guess I’ll be hitting iron down there now,� he said.

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