During the opening rounds of stroke play early last week at the U.S. Amateur Championship, Viktor Hovland lurked. When match play arrived, the 20-year-old from Norway pounced.
On the way to winning the amateur title and hoisting the Havemeyer Trophy at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday, Hovland dominated the competition. Behind for only one hole during the grueling six-match stint, he tied the modern mark—set last year—for fewest match play holes needed to win the championship at 104. He won 44 of those holes and in an almost clinical stretch he dispatched Kristoffer Reitan and Austin Squires with consecutive 7-and-6 victories.
Sunday Hovland was equally efficient, downing Devon Bling 6-and-5.
“I always thought I had a pretty good vocabulary, but yeah—I’m lost for words,” Hovland told reporters afterward.
The final was square for only two holes on Sunday, the second and third of the morning round, which was also the only time in match play Hovland saw the 18th hole. By the lunch break he was 4-up after fending off a charge by Bling on 12 and 13.
In the afternoon round, Hovland pushed the margin to 5-up after Bling bogeyed No. 6, one of nine bogeys the UCLA sophomore suffered on the day. Bling also doubled late in the afternoon round, just after closing to 4.
“It wasn’t the day I was hoping for, but I played really well all week,” Bling said. “It’s just the beginning, it’s not the end."
If there was a turning point, it came in the morning round. With the score 4-up in Hovland’s favor, Bling captured 17 and appeared as if he would take 18, as well, when Hovland drove his tee shot into the bay. He then found a bunker protecting the green. But the Norwegian, who plays collegiate golf at Oklahoma State, managed to save par on the hole.
“Making that putt, it almost felt like a win because I didn't really hit a single good shot on that hole,” Hovland observed.
Following the lunch break, Bling opened with a bogey to put Hovland in 5-up cruise control mode.
“It wasn’t really anything flashy,” Hovland said of the championship round. “It was just, ‘okay—hit the fairway off the tee and try to get it somewhere close on the greens.’”
Hovland becomes the first Norwegian to capture the U.S. Amateur title. Both Hovland and Bling earn spots in the field at next year’s U.S. Open, also to be played at Pebble Beach. Should they remain amateurs, both will likely be invited to the Masters.
As U.S. Amateur champion, Hovland will also receive a place at the Open Championship. And while he looks forward to the other tournaments, the return trip to Pebble Beach was already on his mind.
“I think playing Pebble Beach at the U.S. Open next year is going to be—yeah, it's going to be even more special,” he said.