PGA Tour star Viktor Hovland got off to an excellent start at the Genesis Scottish Open, signing one of the few clean cards of the round. However, the Norwegian acknowledged the enormous challenges posed by The Renaissance Club course and even offered advice to his colleagues.
After completing his first-round performance, Hovland reflected on the details that make this venue both scoreable and difficult at the same time:
“It’s one of those courses where it’s gettable if you’re playing really well and you’re getting a few nice bounces and making some putts,” he said.
“But as soon as you get a little bit greedy and you miss in a bad spot, you’re going to make a bogey pretty easily.”
The Norwegian illustrated his words by using himself as an example of the right way to approach the course:
“That was one of the big things today. I wanted to keep a clean card and, when I hit a good shot, try to make the putt and make birdies. But I wasn’t going to try to push anything.”
Hovland has played the Scottish Open three times previously. His best result so far was finishing tied for 25th in 2023.
Viktor Hovland’s 1st Rd a Walk in the Park
Viktor Hovland carded four birdies and no bogeys during the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open. With his 4-under 66, he finished tied for ninth place, just two strokes behind the leaders.
Surprisingly, the Norwegian wasn’t among the round’s best in any statistic, even his putting was quite poor (only 0.02 strokes gained). However, he did manage to maintain a steady performance in all aspects of his game, which led to his excellent result.
“Pleased with the score. Left a couple of shots out there on a couple of the par-5s. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with the day,” he said.
Despite having one win and five other top-25 finishes this season, Hovland still feels he has a ways to go to match the form he had in 2023:
“I’ve been trending in the right direction, even though it still doesn’t feel great. If I can hit the ball most of the time where I’m looking and make a few putts and scramble, we can still compete.”
With all due respect to his opinion, his ability to compete didn’t seem to be an issue this Thursday. We’ll see how it looks in the next three rounds.
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