When Viktor Hovland finished conducting his final interviews on Saturday, the sun had fallen and the East Lake Golf Club was enveloped in darkness. He was headed for the cold plunge tub after he finished his obligations, a crucial part of the post-round recovery process.
Hovland required something to cool his nerves.
The winner of the BMW Championship last week is currently in command of the TOUR Championship as he pursues his first FedExCup.
“Being FedExCup champion is really awesome. All the competitions we participated in earlier in the year led to it,” he said.
All season long, Hovland has played a well-rounded game and reserved his best performance for last.
In his last eight starts, a victory this week would be his third overall. His final-round score of 61 at the BMW was undoubtedly the best final round in recent memory and the round of the year.
He shot 66 on the hardest day of the week to get away from his closest pursuer. Only two birdies were combined on Saturday by Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler, who both scored 73. Morikawa had broken the 36-hole scoring record at East Lake to come from nine shots behind and grab a share of the lead at the halfway point. The top-ranked player in the world, Scheffler, started the day in third place, two spots behind the pair.
Only three players are now less than nine shots behind.
Xander Schauffele, who is at 14 under par according to the FedExCup Starting Strokes, is Hovland’s closest pursuer.
In addition to placing in the top five of the FedExCup in five of the last six seasons, including two runner-up finishes (2019, ’20), Schauffele also won the 2017 TOUR Championship. In the season-long points competition for the TOUR, he is going for his maiden triumph. While Schauffele has taken 199 strokes, Hovland and Morikawa have the lowest 54-hole score this week at 12-under 198. The disparity between them on the leaderboard may be seen in their FedExCup starting strokes. Hovland began to play on Thursday at 8 under par because he began this week as the second-ranked player in the FedExCup. Morikawa had a score of one under while Schauffele had two. With Keegan Bradley, Morikawa is tied for third place at 13 under par.
With his victory at the BMW Championship, when he fired a final-round 61 on Olympia Fields, a former U.S. Open course, Hovland jumped up to second place in the FedExCup. On the back nine Sunday, he shot a 28. His previous victory came in June at the Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, making this his second triumph of the year. That is yet another occasion where ball-striking is prized.
It’s crucial at East Lake because it’s challenging to hit close approach shots out of the bermudagrass rough. But there are several opportunities for birdies for those who hit the fairways.
No one has ever lost a larger lead than six shots, although Scottie Scheffler did so in the last round of the 2022 TOUR Championship and Morikawa did so in this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. Only seven players have failed to win in the past 50 years after taking a six-shot lead into the final round.
The championship round seems like a routine thanks to Hovland’s robotic ball-striking. On Saturday, Schauffele had a score of 68, but when asked to comment on his performance, all he could say was, “Not good enough.”
“I am aware of what I must do. Tomorrow, I need to try to put as much pressure as I can on him on that front nine, and I need to hope for the best. He’s just playing golf unbelievably. He’s been putting forth a lot of effort. Throughout the playoffs, I observed him working hard. He was one of the men I always hung out with till it got dark when I went out late.” Schaufelle said.
Hovland tops the field in terms of Driving Accuracy, Tee-to-Green Strokes Gained, Approach-the-Green Strokes Gained, and Average Proximity to the Hole. He had the fewest bogeys this week among the field with just two bogeys. Due to his well-publicized short-game improvements, he has become difficult to beat because his biggest weakness is now one of his strengths.
“I feel a little bit more complete now, and I don’t have to play at my very best to have a chance. Every shot doesn’t have to be perfect. I can slightly miss it, sway back and forth, and continue.” Hovland said.
This is evidenced by his performance in the biggest tournaments of the competition, he placed in the top 20 in each of the four majors this year, including a T7 at the Masters and a second-place finish at the PGA Championship. He has since emerged as the best player at the FedExCup championship, dominating a competition that included the top 30 players this season.
Hovland had two birdies on his opening eleven holes of the day, but due to Scheffler and Morikawa’s troubles, it was enough to give him a four-shot lead. Lightning at that time resulted in a one-hour delay. Following the delay, Hovland made birdies on his first two holes as well. He bogeyed the fourteenth hole before birdying the island-green fifteenth.
He missed birdie putts of 11 feet or less on the final three holes, which would have allowed him to gain an even bigger lead. Hovland still has the upper hand going into the East Lake championship round despite those misses.
“That trophy has a pretty unique list of names on it. It isn’t a marathon, of course, but it feels more like a sprint.” Hovland said about the FedEx Cup.
Hovland will be challenging to catch in this race.
