Viktor Hovland lost his head on the 15th at Augusta National to throw away his chance of playing Saturday in the Masters.
The 26-year-old had a really strong finish to 2023 but this year Viktor Hovland has struggled and his frustrations came to a head at the Masters on Friday evening
After working his way into a good position on the green, the Norwegian had a putt for par to stay at 6-over. His effort up the slope, however, agonisingly lipped out leaving a small tap-in for bogey. Approaching the putt in a relaxed manner, Hovland casually hit the ball with one hand and saw it slip past the hole and back downhill.
The 26-year-old composed himself, walked to the putt, used two hands this time, and sunk it for a double bogey. Frustrated, Hovland thew his ball into the lake before the 15th green.
It moved Hovland from 6-over to 8-over and past the cut line. Six-over par would have seen him through but after parring the remaining three holes, he will now go home instead of playing in the Saturday at Augusta National.
Hovland finished 2023 on a strong note, achieving tied-13th placements twice in his last five tournaments, including in The Open, a 10th place finish, and winning two tournaments. However, his performance in 2024 has been disappointing. Leading up to the Masters, Hovland’s best finish in five tournaments was tied-19th.
Hovland entered Friday’s round at 1-under, trailing Bryson DeChambeau by just six shots.
While DeChambeau still holds the lead, he is now tied with Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa at 6-under after losing a stroke. Hovland’s struggle on Friday, finishing 9-over with a particularly difficult 15th hole, is likely to be remembered for some time.
Though the weather had little impact on his putts on the 15th, it will have had an effect on the rest of his round – which started with a triple bogey, double bogey and two single bogeys in the first five holes alone. Really strong winds swept through Augusta National and Hovland wasn’t the only one to struggle.
Rory McIlroy started the day 1-under par, but ended the day 4-over par on Friday. When asked about the weather conditions, he described it as a tough day and expressed the difficulty of scoring well.
He emphasized the importance of making pars and felt that he did reasonably well given the circumstances.
Despite making a bogey on the 14th hole, he was satisfied with being able to par the last four holes and secure a tee time for the following day. “Yes, it was a challenging day. It was hard to score. It was one of those days where most people struggled to make progress.
The key was to just try to keep going as best as you could.”