Hovland eyes PGA TOUR membership at Wyndham Championship

Already a multiple PGA TOUR winner, Ryder Cupper and U.S. Amateur champion, Viktor Hovland is undoubtedly one of the most exciting young players in the game today. When Hovland won last year’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, he became just the fifth European player since World War II to win multiple times on the PGA TOUR before the age of 24. The other four – Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm – have all gone on to win major championships, and three of the four reached No. 1 in the world. Hovland, who has qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of his first two seasons, has a tremendous opportunity to become Norway’s first male major champion. RELATED: Twenty First Group The former Oklahoma State star has not only flashed explosive ability, but has shown the tee-to-green consistency of a TOUR veteran in his 56 career starts on the circuit. Unwavering Elite Ball Striking Since the beginning of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season, there are 208 players with at least 50 rounds measured by ShotLink. Hovland is one of just 17 players in that group – 8.2% of the overall collection – to average at least 1 full stroke gained tee-to-green per round. Players on the PGA TOUR gain 2 or more strokes on the field tee-to-green in about 19% of rounds played. Hovland has done this a whopping 33.8% of the time over the last 3 seasons, the 13th-highest rate of any player. But Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green incorporates short game shots, like chips and blasts from greenside bunkers. When you isolate just performance off the tee and on approach, his numbers are even more impressive. Hovland has averaged 1.22 Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (off-the-tee plus approach) per round over the last three seasons. In that span, only three players have averaged more: Collin Morikawa (+1.39), Jon Rahm (+1.30) and Justin Thomas (+1.25). In 75% of his rounds played during that span, Hovland had a positive number in the Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking category. Only six other players can make that claim among that group (with 50 or more rounds in that span). Hovland averages 0.64 Strokes Gained: Approach per round since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, tied for seventh-most of any player. He has registered a positive strokes gained number on his approach shots in 70.6% of his rounds in that span, the fifth-highest rate on TOUR. In each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons, Hovland ranked in the top 20 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach. Only one other player was able to do that: Corey Conners. Improved Short Game While it still isn’t quite a strength of his game, Hovland has made notable strides in his short game since turning professional. Hovland jumped 44 spots in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green last season, from 168th to 124th. When scrambling from the rough, Hovland got up-and-down just 51.9% of the time in 2019-20. Last season, that number climbed to 61.0%, an improvement worth more than 120 spots in the standings. Hovland has also cut down on the frequency of costly performances around the green. In 2019-20, he had 12 rounds where he lost at least 1 stroke to the field around the green. That number was cut to eight last season. Birdies in Bunches Last season, Hovland skyrocketed from 40th to sixth in birdie average. Since the 2019-20 season began, Hovland has recorded six birdies-or-better in a round 43 times, tied for 10th-most of any player during that stretch. Since the start of last season, Hovland has put a circle on his card six-plus times in about 28% of his rounds played. The average PGA TOUR player does that in about 16% of his rounds. Hovland made a career-best nine birdies in the third round at El Camaleon Golf Club last year on his way to victory. This ability has been no more evident than in Hovland’s two victories, both of which came with a winning score of 20 under par. Hovland is one of just five players to have multiple PGA TOUR victories at -20 or lower since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, along with Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Kevin Na and Brendon Todd. With the average winning score right around 20 under at El Camaleon over the last decade, Hovland will need another prolific scoring week to become the first two-time winner of this event.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Rory McIlroy got to keep the coveted gold PLAYERS Championship trophy for two years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic enforced cancellation at TPC Sawgrass a year ago, but the 2019 champion won't be getting it back in 2021. The two-time FedExCup winner was a dejected figure as he signed for a 7-over 79 in the opening round - his career worst round at THE PLAYERS. Previously McIlroy's hardest trip around TPC Sawgrass was a 77 in his first PLAYERS Championship in 2009 as a 20-year-old. To add insult to injury McIlroy was paired with fellow former champion Sergio Garcia as the Spaniard paced the morning wave with a 7-under 65 - besting his Ryder Cup teammate by 14 shots. Despite perfect conditions the damage was done on the opening nine holes as the group started on the 10th tee. McIlroy snapped his opening tee shot left into an unplayable lie, he ended up making double bogey, and things just got worse from there "(It's) very hard, especially when you’re trying to figure it out as you go along on course," McIlroy said when asked how hard it is to recover from a shocking start. "You’re trying to figure it out, but you still know you’re not really sure where the shots are coming from and then it’s hard to try to eliminate one side of the golf course, basically." After the double McIlroy soon turned a birdie chance into a bogey when he three-putted the 13th green from 24-feet. Another killer blow came on the iconic par-4 18th. The Northern Irishman pulled his tee shot into the lake without covering much land prior and then, after a drop barely in front of the tee box, hit his third shot into the water as well. When all was said and done he was walking off with a quadruple bogey eight. "I just hit a drive that started 10 yards left of where I was aiming and went on the wind and did the same thing with the 4-iron," McIlroy lamented afterwards. His 7-over 43 tied the highest start to a PGA TOUR event in his career, matching his efforts at the 2014 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Back-to-back birdies to open the front side of the course after the turn brought hope of a fightback but they were followed with back-to-back bogeys. A final hole three-putt bogey summed up a tough day. McIlroy wasn't alone though as other former champions and big names seemingly kissed their chances goodbye right out of the gate.Henrik Stenson, the 2009 champion, shot 85 and 2015 conqueror Rickie Fowler had to settle for a 77 - three double bogeys negating any of the good work he managed. Pre-tournament high hope Tony Finau dropped four shots in his opening three holes and never recovered - his 78 a career worst round at TPC Sawgrass by three shots came after his last eight rounds on the course were par or better. Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, 2012 champion Matt Kuchar and Hideki Matsuyama were part of a group to shoot 4-over 76s. Matsuyama shot a phantom 63 in the opening round of the 2020 PLAYERS before the cancellation but was nowhere near as sharp 12 months later.

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