Zozo Championship: Viktor Hovland had one more opportunity to inch closer to the lead and improve his chances of winning on Sunday.
The Norwegian had a lot of time to plan his shot when he approached the par-5 18th tee box in Round 3 of the Zozo Championship after making every green. He then carried out his strategy exactly, capping his round with an eagle.
After his 6-under-par round, Hovland noted that there is typically a brief wait on the tee. Since there are only two groups using that tee box today, you naturally want to finish strong, but after waiting for ten to fifteen minutes, it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things.
“It was downwind, so I got off to a nice start with my 3-wood. It gets pretty tight up there when it’s downwind, but I’ve hit drives in the practice rounds and in the opening round. It was a fantastic way to finish when I shot it in the fairway and then struck a nice 7-wood in the middle of the green to make a nice 45-footer for eagle.”
Hovland’s eagle brought him to within three strokes of Rickie Fowler’s lead going into the final round, where he is currently alone in fourth place at 11 under.
The 11th-ranked player in the world has three PGA Tour victories, all outside of the United States. And he will increase that amount if Hovland succeeds in winning on Sunday in Japan. The 25-year-old won in November at Mayakoba, which was his most recent victory.
Having an eagle to end his round gave him more self-assurance going into Sunday. He did, however, play well for most of Round 3 and will attempt to play well again to win.
He remarked, “I had such a wonderful start to my round today. “Being 4 under after nine holes, you definitely want to shoot 6, 7, or lower. After missing two birdie opportunities on 13 and 14, three-putting 12, and feeling like the round was losing momentum, I made a slight revision to it after making a wonderful birdie on 15. Of course, that’s a lovely way to end it with the eagle on the last.”
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