Viktor Hovland carded a phenomenal 63 to sail away with the FedEx Cup title, an $18 million winner’s cheque and his third PGA Tour victory in 2023
Viktor Hovland finished his phenomenal season with a shiny FedEx Cup trophy and an unfathomable winner’s cheque.
The young Norwegian fended off Xander Schauffele to win the Tour Championship at East Lake by five shots and an $18 million prize.
Hovland carded a 63 to win the week after his success at the BMW Championship, becoming just the fourth player to complete this impressive double on the PGA Tour.
Having also won the Memorial Tournament in June, he becomes the fifth non-American player 25 years old or younger to win three or more times in a PGA Tour season since 1960.
“Just all the hard work I’ve done, just the team that’s helped me every single week,” Hovland said. “It’s just pretty surreal to be standing here right now – playing my best golf in the last two weeks.
“It couldn’t have happened at a better moment in front of all these people. I just want to appreciate you all for being here and being awesome.
“The game plan before starting today was middle of the green, make a lot of pars and make Xander get after it, which he did early, so I had to change my game plan a little bit.
The winning moment for Viktor Hovland @TOURChamp 🏆#FedExCup pic.twitter.com/RGMiWJrM89
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2023
“I was very happy that I didn’t make a bogey and I was staring at five on hole 14 there. When that putt went in, it was huge for momentum because two shots with four holes to go is a lot different from three shots.”
Hovland entered the Tour Championship ranked second in the FedEx Cup standings. This placed him two shots behind Scottie Scheffler when play began on Thursday, while Schauffele started seven shots behind.
Rounds of 68, 64 and 66 gave Hovland a commanding six-shot advantage heading into the final round, with Schauffele as his closest pursuer.
The American cut the deficit to three shots with six holes remaining but the honed-in Hovland kept him at arm’s length.
The momentum of the American’s birdie on hole 12 was stalled as Hovland nailed a 23-foot par putt on 14 to stop the gap falling to two shots.
The 23-year-old made birdie on each of his final three holes to reach 27-under-par – the new record low score by a Tour Championship winner.
Hovland rounded off a superb season just weeks before making his second appearance for Europe at the Ryder Cup next month.
The 2023 Tour Championship leaderboard
-27 V Hovland
-22 X Schauffele
-16 W Clark
-14 R McIlroy
-13 P Cantlay
-11 T Fleetwood, S Scheffler, Collin Morikawa
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