Hefty $25M Dream Threatened as Viktor Hovland Admits Being ‘Punished’ at the Olympics

Unexpected and shocking! The world number 3 from last week is now struggling at the bottom of the list at the Olympics. Could you have ever thought that was possible? None of us did, right? But that is a reality now for Viktor Hovland. unbelievable T54 finish after 36 holes. What could have gone so wrong that Hovland now has no hope of hoisting his nation’s flag?

The race for gold began on August 1st. But a lot has happened within the first two days. Although the Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland had a somewhat decent opening with a T29 and 1-under score after the first round by the second, he fell way down in the list. With a final score of 3 over par, he finished at T54. Understanding his own downfall and pinpointing where he went wrong, Hovland confessed, “I’m just playing poorly.” He then added how he is getting punished at the moment. “The ball is not going where I want it to. And out here you’re going to be punished.’’

According to SI, the golfer has further stated, “I got a big slap in the face on the opening hole and couldn’t recover from there. My game is just not good enough at the moment, that is just the facts.’’ However, this is going to cost Hovland way more than the limits of the Olympic medals. He has been the winner of the 2023 FedEx Cup after his back-to-back winning feat. However, if he falls down with his Olympics performance this time, it is going to highly prevent the player from defending his FedEx Cup title and losing in the race for $25 million.

At the moment, Viktor Hovland stands at T55 in the FedEx Cup ranking with 854 official FedEx points. Scottie Scheffler stands highest in the list with a 5139-point lead from Hovland. But it is simply not the only difference that Hovland feels at the moment.

Viktor Hovland on the big contrast with golf stars
Being in the same group as Schauffele and Rahm can be very taxing. Especially when both golfers are playing the best games in the tournament. While Schauffele leads on the leaderboard, Rahm is not far behind, at T4 after the first holes. The only one who is behind is Hovland himself. And every time he witnesses his group performing well, the golfer is aware of his shortcomings this season. He confessed, “There is a big contrast, that’s for sure.’’ The 26-year-old Norwegian golfer further emphasized, “The differences are quite massive at the moment. I know I have it in me to play at the same level, but right now it feels quite far away.’’

But the game is not over. If it were any other PGA Tour event, Hovland might have missed the cut! However, there are no cuts in this stroke play, and hence, the young golfer still has two more rounds to turn his fate. Do you think he will be able to do so? Let us know in the comments below.