Viktor Hovland’s first season-long title deserves a more thorough celebration, so the team will rendezvous this Friday night in Edmond, Oklahoma, an hour from the former Oklahoma State star’s residence at Stillwater.
The 2023 FedEx Cup champion is perhaps the game’s fastest ascending star. Not only did Viktor Hovland bag the $18-million bonus for his Tour Championship and FedEx Cup victories on Sunday, he earned more than $33 million in on-course earnings on the season.
Hovland established a record for low score in a FedEx Cup Playoff event as well as his career low while winning his fifth PGA Tour title and second this year.
For all the jockeying for position over 72 holes at Olympia Fields Country Club, for all the drama as players moved in and out of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup points standings, only one player – Matt Fitzpatrick – was able to play his way into the Tour Championship.
The Norwegian star ranked first in driving accuracy, hitting 43 of 56 fairways (76.8 percent) and second in strokes gained/off the tee, gaining more than four shots on the field.
He made the hard course look easy for much of the day, in conditions that shouldn’t have allowed for such a thing thanks to an array of shots as beautiful as they were bold as they were ridiculous, a reminder that the man when he’s at his best is capable of stick-and-ball genius.
Kitayama has a career milestone in his sights after a gutsy even-par 72 in the third round that kept him at nine-under and atop the leaderboard at Bay Hill.
There are so many great parts packed in that 55 seconds! Although, you’ve really got to hear Per Haugsrud and Henrik Bjornstad to do this clip justice.
Australian Golf Digest
