Despite Being in a Dire Situation, Rory McIlroy Becomes Viktor Hovland’s Go-To Amid His Tour Championship Dilemma- “Pull a Rory”

After the culmination of the second round of the Tour Championship, Viktor Hovland showed up at the Press conference with a smile. Round two was quite consistent for Hovland, besides the one bogey he sustained on the 7th hole.

In the conference, the title winner of the BMW Championship this year answered a question about what happened on the 18th hole in round two. The incident involved Rory McIlroy as well. Hovland explained how the example of McIlroy helped him handle the situation with ease, and hold on to his position at the top of the table. Let’s look at what happened on the 18th hole.  

When in doubt, “pull a Rory”

One question at the conference addressed Hovland’s dilemma on the 18th hole. He had shot the ball from the tee and it landed in the rough a little short of the water hazard. From there, Hovland had to control the urge to shoot the ball over the water and a bunker on the left. The safer alternative was to wedge it over the water and take it from there. 

The question focused on how hard it was for Hovland to pull himself back from taking the risk and go for the wedge instead. Hovland started off by admitting how maddening it was to end up in the rough from the tee. 

He then narrated what went through his mind while discussing it with Shay (Shay Knight, Hovland’s caddie). “I could try to hit an 8-iron out of there, get it over that left bunker, kind of in the fairway, and try to pitch it up there into that pin.”

Then he explained why he felt discouraged to take that risk. “But there’s just not that much green to work with there, and there was a chance that that 8-iron wasn’t going to come out, and if I leave that in the bunker, now I’m staring at 6.”

Then a follow-up question mentioned how Rory McIlroy was once in a similar situation and if the example helped Hovland. He confessed he recalled McIlroy’s game and discussed it with Shay. “I said, yeah, it’s probably better just to do that so we pull a Rory there.”

Read more: Despite His $3.6M Historic Feat, Viktor Hovland Tips His Crown to 2x Major Winning LPGA Icon in Modest Fashion: ‘The Queen’

Moving onto the results of the second round, here is a summary of Hovland’s round two at the Tour Championship.

Hovland maintains his position at the top

Viktor Hovland had shared the first position with Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley prior to the second round. While Bradley dropped from the position, the other two remained at the pole position with a total score of 16-under each. 

Hovland scored an impressive 64 in the second round, including seven birdies and a bogey. He cruised through the holes 12 to 17 with five birdies. Four of them were consecutive on holes 12 to 15.

From there, he scored a par on the sixteenth hole, followed by another birdie on the seventeenth. Hovland finished without losing numbers on the 18th hole and maintained his 6-under to the end of the round.

Do you think Hovland can hold on to his number 1 position for a couple more days? Let us know in the comments.

Watch this story | “Spasmed, Seized up”: Shortly after a fiery start at the 75000000 clash Rory McIlroy confesses a painful truth