On today’s episode of “Professional Golfers, They’re Just Like Us!” we welcome rising star Viktor Hovland to the program.
The 24-year-old Norwegian was playing his first round of the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club when he hit a series of shots that made him look more like a weekend hacker and not the three-time PGA Tour and two-time DP World Tour winner that he truly is. After finding the fairway on the fourth hole, Hovland hit a shank into thick grass, leaving a difficult approach. Things went from bad to worse for the former U.S. Amateur champion, who proceeded to duff his third shot, barely advancing the ball at all.
Shank ➡️ Duff
Golf is a cruel sport. https://t.co/JEjZrxGiky pic.twitter.com/uB83QWzneu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 7, 2022
Hovland went on to make a double-bogey six and signed his name to a 4-over 74 to sit 13 shots behind first-round leader Cameron Tringale, who shot a 9-under 61 on Thursday morning.
We’ll give Hovland a break for this unfortunate sequence, seeing as his clubs and baggage didn’t arrive with him in Scotland earlier this week. And this isn’t a first-time incident for Hovland, either. In fact, the last time he had issues with clubs, he went on to win.