2021 Ryder Cup Preview: What to Expect from Viktor Hovland
By Tim Letcher
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The Ryder Cup competition between Europe and the United States begins this week at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The top 12 players from each side will meet with the winner taking home one of the most coveted trophies in golf.
As the teams prepare for competition, we will be doing the same by previewing the players in this year’s event. Today, we look at Team Europe’s Viktor Hovland.
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Ryder Cup experience – This will be Hovland’s first appearance in the Ryder Cup. He is the first Norwegian to ever make the European Ryder Cup team. He has represented Norway in the Eisenhower Trophy and represented Europe in the Arnold Palmer Cup.
Worldwide experience – Hovland has three wins to his credit early in his career. On the PGA Tour, he won the 2020 Puerto Rico Open and the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic. On the European Tour, he won the 2021 BMW International in June.
What to expect – If you go by the Official World Golf Rankings, Hovland is the second-highest rated player on the European side this week, behind only number one Jon Rahm. Hovland has played some outstanding golf early in his career and figures to be on the European side for many years to come.
But this will be his first Ryder Cup. This is not the Puerto Rico Open (no offense to that event) because of the amount of attention and pressure that’s involved here.
Next. Ryder Cup: Padraig Harrington Wise to Choose Ian Poulter. dark
Hovland has the game, no question. But he’s really stepping into an unknown at this point. And for captain Padraig Harrington, it’s also an unknown how Hovland will handle the situation.
If I’m Harrington, I send Hovland out with a veteran (Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy or someone like that), just to see how Hovland reacts. Having a veteran presence there could help. Harrington may find out he’s got a deer in headlights look, or he may find that Hovland is up to the task and ready to go. If the latter is the case, that could be bad news for the American side.