Viktor Hovland breaks Jack Nicklaus' amateur scoring record at U.S. Open
Viktor Hovland’s amateur career went out with a bang.
The Oklahoma State All-American earned low amateur status at the 2019 U.S. Open with a 12th-place finish of -4, ending the tournament with a 67 on Sunday. He finished five strokes ahead of No. 2 amateur Brandon Wu of Stanford.
Hovland’s four-round total of 280 not only stood out in the field, it rewrote a long-standing Jack Nicklaus record. Since 1960, the Golden Bear’s 282 at Cherry Hills had stood as the lowest four-round score in the infamously difficult U.S. Open’s history.
Viktor Hovland just posted the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in #USOpen history. His remarkable amateur career ends on a record high. @OSUCowboyGolf pic.twitter.com/OZT6VxDff4
— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) June 16, 2019
“It's obviously cool to perform such a thing,” Hovland said after the round. “And I hope that this will feed or I can feed off of this going into my professional career and do more things like this and be in contention of winning tournaments.”
That bit of history comes after Hovland finished 32nd to earn low amateur status at the 2019 Masters as well, joining Phil Mickelson (1991) and Matt Kuchar (1998) as the only amateurs to capture both.
The Norwegian also won the 2018 U.S. Amateur, the 2019 Ben Hogan Award for college golf’s top player and a 2018 NCAA championship with Oklahoma State, so golf’s amateur ranks are probably itching to see him go.
They won’t have to wait long, as Hovland is set to make his professional debut at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands next week.
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