PGA LIVE TOUR
Victor Hovland may not have had the most luck these past few days.
His inspired Rochester play in Sunday’s final at the PGA Championship last week and even just a shot from the lead on the 70th hole of the tournament.
Unfortunately, Hovland picked up his approach from a bunker lane bunker on the slave 16th of Oak Hill and hit him in the face of the bunker, resulting in a touchdown and a subsequent double bogey that killed his chances. He ended up tied for second, two shots behind Brooks Koepka.
Call this chain of events what you will, but you can’t deny what happened to Hovland Saturday morning at Colonial. He wasn’t lucky — though he probably could have avoided it.
Hovland made the cut to challenge Charles Schwab by a few strokes, but started to move on his third round with two birdies on his first six holes. One of the most prolific ball forwards on the PGA Tour, Hovland gave himself an outside chance to birdie the par-3 8th from 36 feet.
Then Hovland made a strange decision, one he wouldn’t normally make. As he addressed the putt, he left the flag stick in the hole.
You can probably guess where this is going.
Hovland expertly cruised the double putt and trailed into the center of the hole. And I hit the flag, right in the middle. She did not enter and stopped five inches from the hole.
In case you’re unfamiliar, since 2019 players have the option to leave the flag pennant in the cup while on the green. But there are conflicting schools of thought on whether letting go of the stick will help you make more strokes or cause more balls to bounce off the hole.
Some pros like Bryson Dechambeau, Adam Scott, and Matt Fitzpatrick set the banner almost exclusively. Hovland doesn’t usually fall into this camp. Earlier this season in American Express, Davis Thompson nearly made a 48-foot putt to tie John Rahm on the 71st green, only to glancing at the flag pennant.
Hovland’s strike seemed likely to find the bottom of the cup there was no flag, but the 25-year-old didn’t seem to care too much. He made four birdies on the back nine and posted a 4-under 66, which was Saturday’s first innings.
With Hovland seven back as the leaders are out, it probably won’t cost him much, but we won’t know for sure how close he gets to Saturday’s 65.