PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Viktor Hovland‘s last golf tournament as an amateur was one to remember, as the Oklahoma State junior shot 4-under 67 and finished tied for 12th at the 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
With a 4-under total of 280 over 72 holes, Hovland broke Jack Nicklaus’ U.S. Open scoring total for an amateur. Nicklaus shot 282 over four rounds at Cherry Hills in 1960.
“It’s obviously cool to perform such a thing,” Hovland said. “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.”
Hovland, 21, had four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine with two birdies and two bogeys on the back on Sunday.
He ranked tied for 1st in fairways hit (83.9 percent) and tied for third in greens in regulation (70.8 percent) through four rounds.
“Yeah, that was fun,” Hovland said. “I hit a lot of greens and hit a lot of fairways this week. Got off to a great start on the first round but wasn’t quite able to capitalize on it. I had another great start today, and it was nice to finish with a birdie and shoot 4-under at a course that I really like.”
By winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, Hovland earned invitations to the Masters in April and the U.S. Open. He was the low amateur at Augusta National Golf Club with a 72-hole total of 3-under 285, which was good for a tie for 32nd.
Phil Mickelson (1991) and Matt Kuchar (1998) were the only other players who were low amateur at both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season.
Hovland, a native of Norway, will turn pro at next week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. He is also scheduled to play at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, 3M Open in Blaine, Minn., and the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., this summer.