There’s just something about this event that brings out Viktor Hovland’s winning ways.
Hovland, 24, earned his third PGA TOUR victory and successfully defended his title at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
Hovland’s other victory came at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open. He finished at 23 under for the week, four shots ahead of Carlos Ortiz.
Hovland, who was born in Oslo, Norway, displayed an impressive short game all week, and he didn’t let a broken driver early in the week distract him.
When asked if this was his best week as a pro, Hovland said, “I think I’ll have to say so. I played really good golf throughout the week. I’ve been chipping so good and getting up and down a lot. That takes a lot of pressure off your long game.”
Hovland vaulted up 89 spots in the FedExCup standings and stands at No. 4.
PACKING UP FOR HOUSTON
The PGA TOUR will head to the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open for the penultimate event before a break for the holiday season.
Sixteen of the top 30 players in the FedExCup standings (as of Nov. 6), including leader Sam Burns, will tee it up at Memorial Park Golf Course. Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff will head to Houston from Mexico.
Koepka was involved with the redesign by Tom Doak of Memorial Park. The course boasts strategic bunkering and unique green contours with short-grass runoffs, making it a second-shot golf course.
To prepare for the TOUR’s return to the Lone Star State, holes were both shortened and lengthened, and trees were removed.
There will be plenty of TOUR stars from Texas playing in Houston, led by Scottie Scheffler. Carlos Ortiz heads back to Memorial Park to defend his title in one of the longest-running PGA TOUR host cities.
