Viktor Hovland leads Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club despite concerns with state of his game
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Published 02/12/2022 at 23:07 GMT
Conditions were tricky at Albany Golf Club, with the wind strong and blustery, and defending champion Viktor Hovland handled them pretty well as he moved into a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Hero World Challenge. World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young are giving chase to the Norwegian in the Bahamas.
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Viktor Hovland will take a one-shot lead into the third round of the Hero World Challenge, despite being unhappy with the state of his game.
Albany Golf Club is a track Hovland enjoys, as he arrived in the Bahamas as the defending champion.
He started well on Thursday to secure a share of the lead, and broke out on his own in difficult conditions as the wind was strong and gusty.
Hovland began with bogeys on two and four, but a brilliant tee shot on the par-three fifth led to a birdie and he eagled the following hole to get under-par for the day.
There were mixtures of birdies and bogeys on the back nine as Hovland signed for a round of 70 to get to five-under for 36 holes.
Second Round Leaderboard
- 1. Viktor Hovland, five-under
- T2. Scottie Scheffler, four-under
- T2. Xander Schauffele, four-under.
- T2. Collin Morikawa, four-under
- T2. Cameron Young, four-under
- 6. Tom Kim, three-under
“When you know you don’t have certain shots, you focus on just playing the game and try to not do stupid things,” Hovland said. “So far I have done a good job of that.
“I have given myself a lot of looks, hit a lot of good iron shots even though they have not felt that great, and I just have not putted that great.”
Asked how his swing feels, Hovland said: “Not very good.
“I have had that in a few tournaments this year. I have been in contention without having my good stuff, so I have to remind myself that I don’t feel the best with my game but to pump myself up and say I have got a chance to compete and be tough.
“I have still got to hit the shots but it is nice to see what I have done in the past. And you can rely on the experiences. But at the same time if you are not hitting the shots you are not hitting the shots.”
It might not have felt too good, but a slam-dunk eagle on six looked pretty good to those watching.
Hovland is one-shot clear of a high-class group of four players. World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler and world No. 6 Xander SChauffele carded rounds of 68 to get to four-under alongside Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young.
Tom Kim bogeyed 16 and 17 to drop out a share of the lead with Hovland, but is well placed at three-under, one shot clear of Justin Thomas who posted the only bogey-free round on Friday.
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