Viktor Hovland’s PGA Championship hopes came crashing down with one shot

Golf

By Mark Cannizzaro

May 21, 2023 | 10:56pm

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — All day, Viktor Hovland was right there.

The 26-year-old from Norway was poised to become the first major championship winner ever from his home country.

He was hanging with the favored Brooks Koepka, already a four-time major winner, as the two duked it out in the final pairing of the 105th PGA Championship on Sunday at Oak Hill.

He was right there on Koepka’s heels … until he wasn’t.

Hovland, one shot behind Koepka with three holes to play (Koepka 9-under and Hovland 8-under), was doomed by a horrific bad break when he hit a 9-iron from a fairway bunker on the 16th hole and the ball became embedded in the grassy bank of the bunker.

He had to take an unplayable penalty stroke to get the ball out and it resulted in a double bogey that was damaging beyond repair to his chances.

Koepka birdied the 16th and, with Hovland’s double, Koepka walked off the green 10-under par with Hovland having fallen to 6-under. And that was it for the Norwegian.

Koepka went on to win his fifth major championship and third PGA and Hovland remained winless in majors.

“I thought I handled myself pretty well,’’ Hovland said afterward. “Pretty unfortunate on 16. I just didn’t get out of the bunker. [The ball] plugged in the lip and I tried to get a drop and made a double bogey.

“But I still don’t feel like I gave it away,’’ he went on. “I felt like I played really solid golf. I gave myself a lot of looks. When I was out of position, I made some great short-game shots and got out of there with a par, but Brooks was hard to catch. Brooks played awesome golf today. He made a lot of putts and hit a lot of great shots and he deserved to win.’’

Hovland has now finished seventh (at last year’s British Open), fourth (at this year’s Masters) and second in his last three major championships and has been in contention. That, however, was no solace to him Sunday night.

“It sucks right now,’’ he said. “But it is really cool to see that things are going the right direction. If I just keep taking care of my business and just keep working on what I’ve been doing, I think we’re going to get one of these soon.

“First place is a lot better than tied for second, but it is fun to even just have a chance to be one of these. Just making the cut and finishing 20th, you haven’t played poorly, but you’ve been a nonfactor in the tournament, so to be in the last group, that was my second time and been in contention for three of these. That’s pretty cool. There’s another one coming up pretty soon.’’

Fellow competitor Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner who hasn’t won one since 2014, agreed.