ATLANTA, Ga. – Viktor Hovland knew he was playing the best golf of his life. With a six-shot lead in the Tour Championship on Sunday, he reasoned that a steady diet of fairways and greens, with lots of pars, would be the most certain path to winning the FedEx Cup.
Xander Schauffele forced him to alter his ideas.
The 25-year-old Norwegian sensation then outperformed himself.
Hovland didn’t back down from Schauffele’s unrelenting challenge, matching birdies from start to finish at East Lake until he closed off the best two weeks of his career with his biggest prize — a FedEx Cup title and the $18 million bonus.
He closed with a 7-under 63, the lowest winning score in Tour Championship history, and won by five strokes over Schauffele.
“The game plan was to try to play as boring as possible — to play it like Tiger back in the day when he would post a 69 or 70 in a major championship and walk away with the victory,” Hovland explained.
Viktor Hovland knew he was playing the best golf of his life.
This was far from boring golf, with Hovland shooting 63 and Schauffele shooting 62. On the back nine, a six-shot advantage was reduced to three shots when Hovland hammered in a 25-foot par putt on the 14th hole, making an already steep hill impossible for Schauffele to ascend.
“What he was doing today was very special,” remarked Hovland. “It made this day a lot more stressful than it should have been.”
So ended a season in which Hovland won the Memorial for the first time in the United States, had a multiple-win season, and then capped it off with two weeks of superb golf in which he won the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields and the Tour Championship at 36-under par.
“It’s pretty surreal to be standing here right now,” Hovland said as he accepted the FedEx Cup trophy in silver. “I basically played my best golf in the last two weeks, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.”
Schauffele forced him to work for the $18 million by shooting at flags from the opening hole. He was within three shots of the lead with seven holes to go and had momentum on his side. Then, on the 14th hole, Hovland ended the suspense with a 25-foot par putt, and on the 16th, he put Schauffele away with a 10-foot birdie putt.
Schauffele and Hovland put up a fantastic performance. They achieved the top scores of the day despite playing in the last group on a day that was delayed by over two hours due to thunderstorms. The next highest score was 65 by players with little chance of winning.
“I thought 62 would have let me get close to him,” said Schauffele. “He played incredibly well.” He made crucial putts and played like a champion.”
Hovland entered the Tour Championship with the No. 2 seed, which meant he began the tournament at 8-under par. Hovland finished with a 19-under 261 — the same total as Schauffele, who began the event as the No. 15 seed at 3 under.
It was the second time in four years that no one scored higher than Schauffele, and he departed Atlanta empty-handed. Such is the essence of the FedEx Cup finals and the significance of a great season and a strong showing in the two postseason events preceding the Tour Championship.
Viktor Hovland knew he was playing the best golf of his life.
“I’ll hold my head up high,” Schauffele added. “It was the most fun I’d had losing in a long time.” It’s a strange sensation. I shot 62. I came up short by five points. Hovi deserves nothing but praise. He played incredibly well in the previous few weeks to get himself into this situation and to put the icing on the cake for himself and his club.”
Schauffele did everything in his power. He was six strokes back as he departed East Lake on Saturday evening, knowing his only chance was to put as much pressure on Hovland as he could during the first nine holes.
Schauffele made 30 shots. After a two-hour delay caused by thunderstorms that significantly softened the East Lake turf, Hovland nearly matched him birdie for birdie, carding a 31 that included a crucial 15-foot par save on No. 2.
Despite his California cool, Schauffele was eager for the fight regardless of the odds.
He birdied the par-3 11th hole from 18 feet and then the 12th from 12 feet, trimming the advantage to three strokes with seven holes to play. Given Schauffele’s brilliantly playing and Hovland’s three missed birdie opportunities from 10 feet or closer on the back nine, the margin felt even narrower.
The crucial putt came on the 14th hole, East Lake’s most difficult. Hovland came up around 100 feet short of the green, about 100 feet from the flag, and his pitch could have been better, stopping just inside 25 feet of the hole.
Viktor Hovland knew he was playing the best golf of his life.
He poured it into his heart and fist-pumped harder than he had all day. The deciding shot was another perfect short iron to 10 feet on the 16th for birdie. The engraver then began work on the silver FedEx Cup trophy.
“It was huge for momentum when that putt went in.” “Two shots with four holes to play is not the same as three shots, especially with 15 holes to go,” Hovland added, alluding to the par-3 to a peninsula green. “After that, I just felt really relaxed.”
He finished with three consecutive birdies that were important for the margin of victory.
Now, it’s up to his peers to assess his season. The PGA Tour player of the year was expected to be a two-man contest between Masters champion Jon Rahm and his four wins and Scottie Scheffler, who had two wins and the No. 1 position due to his incredible consistency.
Hovland finished the season with victories at the Memorial and two FedEx Cup playoff tournaments, including the most important.
Wyndham Clark, the US Open champion, won the B-Flight, finishing with a 65 to finish third, 11 strokes back. That equated to a $5 million incentive. Rory McIlroy finished fourth and earned $4 million, while Patrick Cantlay (66) finished alone in fifth and earned $3 million.
The next time Hovland and Schauffele meet will be for no monetary reward — the Ryder Cup in Rome in a month.
SOURCE – (AP)
