It has been three days of relentless fighting at the Open Championship which has proved to be the toughest major tournament of this year. While the earlier two rounds tried and tested the very best of the players, some failed while some are seen excelling.
Amidst such a tense situation a PGA Tour Pro who is already fully invested in the game had to face the negative attitude of a reporter. But he handled it with panache by answering in a classy manner. Let’s find out more.
PGA Tour pro’s educated response to an insensitive reporter
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
25 years old Victor Hovland, has sharp skills and a strong mind game which is why he has been able to maintain his dominance on the ground of Liverpool, and is on T4 after the third round. However on Friday, Hovland had to fight a fight off course as well. With his current spot in such a tough competition, Victor has proved his ultra golfing skills but this was not enough to impress an interviewer who, at the press conference in the evening, tried to mock him with a condescending tone. The exchange was shared by NUCLR GOLF on Twitter.
🚨Viktor Hovland had to correct a reporter post round 😅 @TrackingHovland
Q: You started off with a bogey early. You must be thinking, I need to work in there. You were 6-under for the rest of the round. You must be just delighted with that.
Viktor: “I started birdie on 1,…
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 22, 2023
Yesterday during the mixed zone at Hoylake, the first question that the interview asked Hovland was a negative one. He asked,” You started with a bogey early doors. You must be thinking, I need to work in there. You were 6-under for the rest of the round. You must be just delighted with that?”
To this, the PGA Tour pro replied with a smart answer saying “I started birdie on 1, so –“. But the interviewer again launched a bigger attack on him by asking “Forget what I just said. Great round. Just talk us through it in English.”
In his response, the Norwegian professional golfer maintained utter calm and handled the situation gracefully by giving a polite answer. He said, “Yeah, obviously a nice start and was a little disappointed to bogey the next. I knew the conditions were out there and we could score, but I was very happy about not bogeying a single hole after that.”
Instead of lashing out at the reporter, he chose to maintain his focus centered on the more important thing at the moment which is the game.
Victor Hovland’s performance at the Open Championship
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The 2023 Memorial Tournament winner is on a hot streak at Liverpool this week. On the third day he made one bogey, but soon made up for it by delivering five birdies. Adding to his answer to the interviewer he said: “My putter heated up, so it was nice to take advantage of some of the nice iron shots that I hit in there.“ And yesterday while he was ready to make his second shot on the par-5 at 15th hole, funnily he got sh*t on by a bird to which he reacted with a laugh.
According to sports professionals, this is considered a sign of good luck. Will this luck follow him into the final round, we will find out on Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad