Viktor Hovland ties TOUR record on Sunday at The Greenbrier

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – Sunday was a good day for golfers from Norway.

Suzann Pettersen made the clinching putt in Europe’s Solheim Cup victory, an 8-footer for birdie on the 18th hole to beat American Marina Alex. Shortly afterwards, the 38-year-old from Oslo who had recently returned to competition after taking a lengthy break to start a family, announced her retirement from professional golf.

Pettersen’s countryman, Viktor Hovland, on the other hand, is just beginning his career on the PGA TOUR. And on Sunday at The Old White TPC, the 21-year-old, who also was born in Oslo, fired a 64 that vaulted him up the leaderboard at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.

As happy as he was with his round that left him at 12 under, Hovland was excited to talk about Pettersen’s accomplishment.

“Obviously playing in college and in junior golf, as well, like team golf is something that I really value,” Hovland said. “I think that's almost a pinnacle of golf in my opinion, being a part of a team and succeeding together. Doesn't get much more fun than at that.

“Obviously to have Petersen from Norway to make the clinching putt is pretty cool.”

Hovland, who played collegiately at Oklahoma State and turned pro following the U.S. Open, is on quite a streak of late. With Sunday’s round of 6 under that included birdies on six of his last 12 holes, he has now shot 17 straight rounds in the 60s, tying Bob Estes’ PGA TOUR record.

“I didn't really think about that,” Hovland said. “I would've thought maybe it was a little lower. I don't know. I turned pro out of school in the summer, and I don't know how the other golf courses we play out there for the other half of the season, but we've been playing courses that have been pretty gettable. Not a whole lot of wind and greens have been fairly soft.

“I've just played pretty consistently, so, yeah, it's been a pretty cool ride.”

Hovland, who won the 2018 U.S. Amateur, earned his PGA TOUR card at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals when he tied for second at the Albertsons Boise Open three weeks ago. Coupled with his five starts on TOUR as a pro last season, he has now shot 73-64-65-64-65-64 in the final round.

Hovland had actually played at The Greenbrier before, finishing second individually to Hayden Springer of Texas Christian but leading the Cowboys to the team title in the Big 12 Championship in April. He didn’t get back to the resort until Tuesday night and only played 13 holes in the rain-plagued pro-am.

“Course is pretty straight in front of you,” Hovland said. “I think one of the reasons I've been playing so well on Sunday is getting more familiar with the courses and just getting comfortable.”