PALM BEACH GARDENS – Viktor Hovland had never played PGA National before Tuesday afternoon.
But the 22-year-old rookie has had a lot of firsts this week.
On Sunday, he won his first PGA Tour event, the Puerto Rico Open, to become the first Norwegian to win on Tour. The victory will allow him to play in his first PGA Championship this year.
Of course, he will compete in his first Honda Classic this week.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” Hovland said about being a champion. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a pretty crazy ride.”
Hovland is one of the rising stars on Tour. Having turned pro last year, he has two top-10 finishes in seven starts this season and has risen to No. 60 in the world. While on his way to establishing himself on the Tour, he’s also eyeing a spot on the European Ryder Cup team. What better place to start to impress than Honda where team captain (and two-time Honda champion) Padraig Harrington is in the field.
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“I’ve been looking at Ryder Cup as something that I want to play in for a really long time,” Hovland said. “It’s pretty much the pinnacle of a golfing career.”
So, what was that first conversation this week with Harrington like?
“He said congrats, so that was great,” Hovland said.
Hovland, who needed a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole to get to 20-under 268 and defeat Josh Teater by one stroke at Puerto Rico, got his first PGA National lesson on his first hole Tuesday. He went off at No. 10.
The hole was playing into the wind. Hovland’s tee shot found the bunker a little more than 260 yards away. He was about 235 from the flag. Hovland said to his caddie, Shay Knight, “this is a pretty easy par-5 if I just catch one.”
Said Knight, an Australian: ”Ít’s a par-4, mate.”
Welcome to PGA National.
“There’s a lot of really tough holes out there,” Hovland said. “But if you hit the ball good there’s definitely opportunities to score.”
The first benefit of winning in Puerto Rico is more stability in his schedule. Now, he’s in The Players field along with PGA Championship. He has yet to earn an invite to the Masters because Puerto Rico was an opposite-field event (it was played the same weekend as the WCG-Mexico Championship) but still could get in by cracking the top 50 in the world.
“Getting into the PGA Championship is going to be a lot of fun,” Hovland said. “I haven’t played in that major. The Players is going to be awesome to play in. There’s so many cool tournaments out there.”
