Viktor Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion, is turning pro this coming week, making his professional debut at the Travelers Championship. But he looked like a pro all week in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Hovland, who shot a 4-under 67 in Sunday’s final round to finish on the same score for the tournament and sew up the low-amateur honors for the week. He, too, set the U.S. Open record for the lowest score ever shot over 72 holes by an amateur with 280, breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 282 set in 1960 at Cherry Hills.
“That was fun,’’ said Hovland, a native of Norway who played his college golf at Oklahoma State and began the week playing a practice round with fellow OSU alum Rickie Fowler. “I got off to a great start on the first round [68] but wasn’t quite able to capitalize on it. I had another great start [Sunday], and it was nice to finish with a birdie [on 18] and shoot 4-under at a course that I really like.’’
Asked what this will do for his pro career, Hovland said, “I hope I can feed off of this going into my professional career and do more things like this and be in contention of winning tournaments.’’
Xander Schauffele has played in three U.S. Opens and finished in the top-6 in all of them, led by Sunday’s tie for third at 7-under after a 4-under 67 final round. Schauffele finished tied for fifth in his first one, in 2017, and tied for sixth last year at Shinnecock Hills. Schauffele had it to 8-under at one point on the back nine and was three off the lead, but a bogey on 12 sabotaged his chances.
“All of us are looking at the leaderboards,’’ he said. “I figured if I could get to 10 [under] somehow … then Gary [Woodland] would see my name, everyone would see my name and I’d be right in the mix.’’
Michael Thorbjornsen, the 17-year-old 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur champion from Wellesley, Mass., closed out his magical week with a final-round 76.
Thorbjornsen, who’s the second-youngest amateur to make a U.S. Open cut since World War II, finished the week 20-over, but that number was only that high because of his 13-over 84 shot in the third round.
“I can’t really put into words what it’s been like this whole week, just playing in the PGA event, then a major, then it being the U.S. Open, which everyone wants to play in, everyone wants to win this one the most,’’ Thorbjornsen said. “And having played the way I did, those first two days put me in position for the weekend, felt amazing just knowing I could play two more rounds on this beautiful golf course and just show that I belong here.’’
Asked if this week has made him think about his future as a pro, he said: “Definitely after this week I can see where the pros are at. Yes, I made the cut, but I am not even close to being in contention, so I have a lot to learn. I know what I need to improve on.
“I think that’s probably the biggest thing this week because now that I know what I need, I can use this experience for me to play better amateur golf and then eventually get on Tour and then see how that puts me out there.’’
Thorbjornsen is committed to play college golf at Stanford, where he’ll begin next year.
Marcus Kinhult had the low round of the day early on, with a 5-under 66, showing that low scores were available Sunday.
“The course felt a lot easier today, especially being in the fairway all the time and hitting it in the right spots and I played a lot better,’’ he said. “This is the best round of the week, obviously. Hopefully I can take some confidence from that.”This whole week has been a great experience, my first U.S. Open. I learned a lot and I really look forward to try to play here again.’’
Sepp Straka, who was in contention with his opening-round 68 before fading with a 72 and 76 in his next two rounds, finished with a 67 on Sunday.
“Pebble Beach is one of my favorite places,’’ he said. “To do my first U.S. Open here is pretty special. To finish it off like that [Sunday] was pretty cool. The first couple of rounds I was definitely nervous. It’s my first U.S. Open, Pebble Beach, pretty sweet.’’