U.S. Open: Viktor Hovland shows major championship potential

While Matthew Wolff and Bryson DeChambeau drew most of the attention this week at the U.S. Open, Viktor Hovland showed that he has plenty of game.

While a pair of young players distanced themselves from the rest of the field this week at the U.S. Open, there was another young player making an impact while largely going unnoticed. Viktor Hovland made his way around Winged Foot this week in fine fashion and with a career-best finish in a major championship.

Just 22 years of age, Hovland, who was a teammate of Matthew Wolff at Oklahoma State, finished in a tie for XXth place this week. He started his week with a 1-over par 71 on Thursday and was able to shoot the same score on Friday. On Saturday, he had an even-par round of 70, which left him at 2-over par through three rounds. He was seven shots behind Wolff heading into Sunday’s round.

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The Norwegian started his day with a par on the first hole and followed that with a par on the second. He suffered his first bogey of the day on the par-3 third hole, slipping to 1-over par on his round.

Hovland would then record five consecutive pars, staying at 1-over par through eight holes of play. However, he was able to take advantage of the par-5 ninth hole, as most players did on Sunday. Hovland was able to get up and down from the greenside bunker for his birdie, leaving him with an even-par 35 on the front nine.

The back nine started with an easy par on the par-3 10th hole. However, Hovland would bogey the 11th hole after a three putt from above the hole.

He would bounce back with a birdie on the par-5 12th hole, getting himself back to even par on the day and 2-over for the championship. Hovland would par 13, 14 and 15 to stay at that exact same mark.

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The finish was definitely not what Hovland was hoping for. He would bogey the 16th hole before double bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes left him with a 5-over par 75 on the day. He did record his second straight top 20 finish in the U.S. Open, after he tied for 12th last season. He was also the low amateur last season.

Hovland did not shine like some of his fellow young stars this week at Winged Foot. But it’s easy to see that he has the potential to win major championships during his career.

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