Viktor Hovland Hold BMW Championship with record 61

The Norwegian was 133rd before the final round of the season but made history by winning from behind

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Viktor Hovland and his caddy Shay Knight had a difficult conversation last week when Hovland scored a final round 69 for T13 at FedEx St. Jude. With a 133rd place finish of the season in the finals and an average score on the PGA TOUR, the young Norwegian felt he wasn’t doing too well on Sunday. Well, that’s all.,

Hovland recorded 10 birdies and a bogey to set a course record of 61 – including 7 under par 28s on the back nine – and a two-stroke win over Scottie Scheffler (66) and Matt Fitpatrick (66) in the BMW Championship Champs d’Olympie .

“To win in a place like this and with the best players in the world is really cool,” said Hovland, who moved up from 7th to 2nd with his fifth PGA TOUR win in the FedExCup. “And do it like that and make seven birdies in the last nine holes…”

It was the TOUR winner’s lowest score of the season, Hovland’s career low and the lowest score in FedExCup playoff history. Hit 12 three-point shots in a nearly flawless drive: 12/14 fairways (a week-leader with a 43/56 rating),

16/18 shots on the greens, 1st place in shots made: tee shots too the greens, 2nd place in hits scored: insertion . Scheffler, who started the day tied with Fitzpatrick, three times ahead of Hovland and Rory McIlroy, fucked two of the first three holes, three of the first six and led for most of the day.

However, there was a dramatic turnaround on the final five holes.Scheffler threw it at 1 over par while Hovland, playing up front, threw it at 4 under par.

Thus liberated he almos tattains perfection. His 61 in Sunday’s Olympia Fields was twice better than the 63 in the next lower round, Russell Henley’s 63 (T8) and Tom Kim’s (T10), and eclipsed the 66scored by Scheffler, Fitzpatrick Look and McIlroy.

Though Hovland had been indifferent all week, he bided his time. “Joe and I talked a lot about it.Just because you have seven (back) shots bytheendof the weekend doesn’t mean you don’t have them,” he said. “You just have to make good decisions, always participate and if you’re good, you can just accept it and win.” Now the TOUR Championship is coming to East Lake, where the FedExCup Hovland startstwice behind No. 1 Scheffler in the Starting Strokesformat.Then he goes to the Ryder Cup in Rome. “He just stays on the pedal,” said McIlroy, who will be one of his teammates. There was afitting analogy at BMW where Hovland took the checkered flag with a finish that took every one’s breath away