Hovland Breaks Through, Zhang Earns Historic Win | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week the golf world was busy as the world's finest players gathered at Jack Nicklaus’ tournament at Muirfield Village, and the LPGA Tour played the Mizuho Americas Open from Liberty National Golf Course. 

The Memorial - Tournament History 

The Memorial Tournament has been a staple on the PGA Tour schedule since 1976 when Roger Maltbie won the inaugural event and a $40,000 check. One of Tiger Woods’ many stomping grounds (winning five times), Muirfield Village provides one of the toughest tests every year and also carries prestige via the tournament host Jack Nicklaus. The Memorial always provides an exciting tournament which is typically highlighted by one of the toughest three hole closing stretches on Tour. The course plays fast and firm, just how Nicklaus likes it, and it often leaves the world’s best battered and bruised. Regardless of how they get there, the winner each year is given the honor of a firm handshake and congratulations from the best to ever do it upon walking off the 18th green.

The Big Swing 

This week the Big Swing goes to the Norwegian ball striking machine Viktor Hovland. Hovland entered the week playing some of the best golf of his career, and off the heels of a very close call at the PGA Championship a couple weeks ago that left him heartbroken. While this week was not a major championship, it sure felt like one given the field, the course, and the Memorial’s elevated status. All of the Tour’s top players were here this week, and many of them were contending on the weekend as expected. 

Hovland opened the week with a pair of 71’s, putting himself in position to make another run on the weekend. Other big names that were playing well early included Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Hideki Matsuyama, who held the 36-hole lead at eight-under par. 

Scottie Scheffler entered the week on an impressive streak of 14 straight top-12 finishes. But it looked like that streak may come to an end after he made the cut on the number at +3. However, the world No. 1 caught fire on the weekend. He posted a four-under 68 on Saturday to get himself into red figures for the tournament and ultimately just five shots behind the 54-hole leaders. On Sunday, Scheffler came out firing again, posting three-under on his first nine and added three more birdies to grab the solo lead momentarily at -7. Ultimately he would bogey the 17th and post -6 in the clubhouse – a score that had a serious chance of holding. 

Coming down the stretch, it was Denny McCarthy who held a two-shot lead at -8 over Hovland and Scheffler, both at -6, with three holes to play. Hovland then made an impressive birdie at 17 (only birdie at the 17th all day), to move within one shot of the lead. A solid par on 18 made Hovland the new clubhouse leader at -7. When McCarthy’s par putt on the 18th rolled past the edge, a playoff would be needed to decide this year's champion. 

McCarthy and Hovland replayed the difficult par-4 18th hole. When Hovland’s ball found the left edge of the fairway and McCarthy hit his well right into the thick rough, Hovland sensed the advantage. After a safe second shot to the center of the green, and after McCarthy’s par attempt burned the edge, Hovland had about six feet to secure his fourth PGA Tour title – which he converted.

Believe it or not, this win was actually the first for Hovland inside the continental United States. It also makes it four seasons in a row with a PGA Tour victory. Hovland will look to ride the wave in LA at the U.S Open in a couple of weeks. 

Winner’s Bag - Viktor Hovland 

This week Team PING gets credit for a big win, as PING staffer Viktor Hovland was able to break through and finally get a big one. Hovland plays PING through the bag (with just one exception), and has stuck with them for the entirety of his young career. Off the tee, Viktor has stuck with last generation's PING G425 LST driver (@ 8.4 degrees). The only club in his bag that wavers from the PING team is his 3-wood, which is the TaylorMade Stealth Plus (@ 16.5 degrees). He also has a 7-wood in the bag, which is the new PING G430 Max (@ 18.75 degrees). Powering one of the best ball strikers and iron players in the world are the PING i210 irons (4-PW). Around the greens, Hovland employs a duo of PING Glide 4.0 wedges (50 and 56 degrees), along with a PING Glide 2.0 60-degree wedge. On the greens, Viktor rolls a PING PLD DS 72 prototype. 

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week on the LPGA Tour, the ladies best players gathered in New Jersey at Liberty National for the playing of the Mizuho America’s Open hosted by the iconic Michelle Wie. For the first time ever this week, the LPGA Tour also hosted the top 24 ranked junior golfers to compete alongside them and showcase their games. The field this week was star studded, and included names like Jennifer Kupcho, Yuka Saso, Danielle Kang, Minjee Lee, Jin Young Ko, and Lydia Ko. Another big story was Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old golfer from Stanford that won the Augusta National Woman’s Amateur, the NCAA individual title, and announced her intention to not play her final two seasons at Stanford and instead turn pro. 

Zhang opened her professional career with an impressive first round 70 on Thursday. She then followed it up with an even better round of 69 on Friday. Making the cut at your first professional event is impressive, but contending is another thing entirely. Zhang found herself battling for an LPGA title in her first professional event with the best players in the world. If you weren’t convinced by her talent after the first two rounds, you certainly were on Saturday when Zhang carded a six-under-par 66 to take control of the tournament. 

On Sunday it was Kupcho who was making a charge while Zhang had seemingly stalled out. Not making a birdie on her front nine, Rose turned at 1-over par for the day. She would ultimately not make a single birdie all day, and would make one more bogey at the 72nd hole to shoot a final-round 74. Meanwhile, Kupcho’s three-under 69 was enough to force a playoff, and the pair headed back to the 18th tee just as Hovland and McCarthy did in Ohio. 

When both players made clutch putts for par on the first playoff hole, they would make the trek back to the 18th tee again. The second time around, Zhang striped a drive down the middle before stuffing her second shot with a fairway wood to about 10 feet. After Kupcho failed to 2-putt from long range, Zhang two-putted for the historic win. 

Zhang became the first player since 1951 (the Tour’s second ever season)  to win in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour – and there’s likely many more wins to come from Zhang. Yana Wilson, who has previously won the Drive, Chip, and Putt Challenge at Augusta National twice, earned the honor of Low Junior. Wilson has also won 118 junior golf tournaments and is just 15 years old. Wilson will compete in the U.S Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July. 

Winner's Bag -- Rose Zhang

Zhang had served as a Callaway ambassador even before turning pro. Now that she's a pro, she is a member of Callaway's tour staff and, of course, plays a full bag of Callaway equipment, including a Paradym Triple Diamond driver, Rogue ST LS fairway woods, Paradym hybrid, Apex 21 irons, Jaws Raw wedges, and an Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Double Wide putter.