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Viktor Hovland Finishes T2nd at PGA Championship

Hovland keeps getting close in majors.

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2 weeks ago

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[Jackson Lavarnway/PFB]

Viktor Hovland was paired with Brooks Koepka for the round that earned Koepka his fifth major win. But Hovland was more than just along for the ride.

Hovland shot a 2-under 68 in his final round of the PGA Championship, finishing two strokes behind Koepka, the eventual champion, and tying with Scottie Scheffler for second place.

Hovland teed off on 18 in third place and three strokes back from Koepka, and he added an ounce more pressure on the now three-time PGA Champion with a nice birdie putt to pull with two strokes and tied for second. A moment later, Koepka missed on a would-be birdie putt before tipping it in for the two-stroke win.

The former Cowboy entered Sunday trailing by just one stroke to Koepka. He shared the lead with Scheffler and Corey Conners following the second round of the tournament. After back-to-back birdies on 4 and 5, he bogeyed on 7. Hovland then had two more consecutive birdies on 13 and 14.

Then an unfortunate shot on 16 essentially cost him a major. Hovland’s fairway shot got stuck in the lip of the bunker, resulting in his only double bogey of the tournament.

“I thought I handled myself pretty well today,” said Hovland on CBS. “Pretty unfortunate on 16 but I still didn’t feel like I gave it away. Brooks played awesome golf today. He made a lot of putts and hit a lot of great shots and he deserved to win.

While coming that close may feel painful now, this is just the latest impressive finish for the 25-year-old. In just his fourth year on the Tour, Hovland has three PGA wins, two on the European tour and seven professional wins overall. In his last three majors, he’s finished T4th in the 2022 Open Championship, T7th in the 2023 Masters and now T2nd in the 2023 PGA.

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