Viktor Hovland fired ten birdies and two bogeys on Saturday to increase his lead to three shots in the Hero World Challenge.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1599160415069446144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1599160415069446144%7Ctwgr%5Ef9d358f178823f30e35a38aa5c20361b9e985a40%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FPGATOUR2Fstatus2F1599160415069446144widget%3DTweet
He made the most of the muddy conditions following heavy rain on Wednesday and his 64 was the best score of the day.
“I hit a lot of just good quality iron shots to give myself seven to 12 feet. It wasn’t like I hit one just incredible shot and stuff it or make it like I did the other days, but it was just kind of consistently giving myself looks.”
A win on Sunday would make the Norwegian player the only back-to-back winner of this event other than tournament host Tiger Woods.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1599156420204601346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1599156420204601346%7Ctwgr%5E94bef0891e25cc7ef142305a370ba5ff12b5dc34%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FPGATOUR2Fstatus2F1599156420204601346widget%3DTweet
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler eagled the par-5 15th and closed with a 66 but found dealing with the mud difficult.
“Who’s good at those? You pretty much have no idea what the golf ball’s going to do,” he said. “It’s not something that I would practice at home just because it’s not something that I believe should happen on the golf course.”
Fellow American Justin Thomas also carded a 66 but managed to stay bogey-free for a share of third place at 8-under alongside compatriot Cameron Young (68).
“It’s unfortunate,” said Thomas. “And you can get some really, really unlucky breaks and unfortunate situations. But like I said, everybody has to deal with it and the more you let it get to you, probably the worse off you are.”
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viktor Hovland | -13 | 69 | 70 | 64 | 203 |
| 2 | Scottie Scheffler | -10 | 72 | 68 | 66 | 206 |
| T3 | Justin Thomas | -8 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 208 |
| T3 | Cameron Young | -8 | 71 | 69 | 68 | 208 |
| T5 | Collin Morikawa | -7 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 209 |
| T5 | Xander Schauffele | -7 | 72 | 68 | 69 | 209 |
| 7 | Jon Rahm | -4 | 73 | 71 | 68 | 212 |
| 8 | Sepp Straka | -3 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 213 |
| T9 | Sam Burns | -2 | 70 | 75 | 69 | 214 |
| T9 | Tony Finau | -2 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 214 |
| T11 | Sungjae Im | -1 | 74 | 71 | 70 | 215 |
| T11 | Billy Horschel | -1 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 |
| T11 | Tom Kim | -1 | 69 | 72 | 74 | 215 |
| 14 | Tommy Fleetwood | +3 | 71 | 76 | 72 | 219 |
| T15 | Jordan Spieth | +4 | 76 | 72 | 72 | 220 |
| T15 | Max Homa | +4 | 71 | 78 | 71 | 220 |
| T15 | Matt Fitzpatrick | +4 | 74 | 70 | 76 | 220 |
| 18 | Shane Lowry | +6 | 74 | 77 | 71 | 222 |
| T19 | Corey Conners | +7 | 75 | 76 | 72 | 223 |
| T19 | Kevin Kisner | +7 | 74 | 72 | 77 | 223 |