Korn Ferry: Viktor Hovland Leads After Round One
You may not know, but other events are going on other than the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Viktor Hovland leads one of them.
The Korn Ferry Tour headed to Ohio State University this week to play the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on the Scarlet Course. Viktor Hovland, who garnered national attention at both Oklahoma State and the 2019 majors, leads after day one.
For many of the golfers that are playing on the Korn Ferry, the argument can be had that they have more on the line than anyone who is playing at the BMW Championship right now. 112 golfers have made over $1 million on the PGA this year. Meanwhile, the top money earner on the Korn Ferry Tour, Xinjun Zhang, has made just under $400,000.
50 players on the Korn Ferry Tour will be looking to get their PGA card depending on how their years finish up. Very similar to the PGA, they have a three-round playoff system, with more points being awarded than are distributed during the regular season. A win at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course would vault any player into the top 25, setting them up nicely.
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Viktor Hovland is one of those players striving for a card, and he is wasting no time at all getting there.
After day one at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Viktor Hovland is tied with Cameron Percy atop the leaderboard at -7. Percy and Hovland had very similar rounds, each carding six birdies, one bogey, and one eagle.
The lone bogey for Viktor Hovland came on the par-4 14th hole. His eagle came just a couple of holes earlier on the par-5 12th hole.
Through Thursday’s round, there weren’t that many golfers close to Hovland and Percy. Doug Ghim was at -6, Matthew NeSmith at -5, with Robert Streb, Anirban Lahiri, and Ben Martin at -4.
Since turning Pro, all eyes have been on Viktor Hovland as one of the new up-and-comers on the PGA. Alongside Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa, expectations are quite high for the young threesome. Morikawa and Wolff both have won, and look to be on Tour for a long time. Hovland has yet to find a win on the PGA but is looking primed to win on the Korn Ferry this week.
Next. BMW Championship: Pro Golf Now Staff Picks to Win. dark
Yes, we should all be focused on the BMW Championship this week. We shouldn’t solely focus there though, as Viktor Hovland’s march towards a PGA card deserves our attention as well.