Hovland Captures FedEx Cup Title | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing. This week the PGA Tour officially wrapped up its season at the Tour Championship from East Lake, GA while the LPGA was north of the border for the CPKC Women’s Open in Vancouver, Canada.

Tour Championship - Tournament History

The Tour Championship is the final stop on the PGA Tour schedule. One of the things that makes it so unique is that only the top-30 point earners in the FedEx Cup standings are eligible to compete. The players also start with staggered scores based on their position ranging from -10 to even par with the top-ranked player starting with an advantage over the field. Last year featured an epic duel between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy with McIlroy prevailing for his third career FedEx Cup title. This year was Scheffler's second straight season entering the Tour Championship at the top of the rankings with Viktor Hovland and McIlroy following close behind in the second and third positions. In 2018, Tiger Woods returned to the winner's circle at East Lake after over five years without a win. East Lake is a par-70 that features a lot of sand and a lot of water. The greens are typically firm and fast and we’ve seen mixed results in terms of scoring largely due to a variety of weather conditions but lately the winners have been settling in around 20-under due to the higher ranked players starting well under par. 

The Big Swing

For the second week in a row, Viktor Hovland gets the feature thanks to another stellar performance in which he ran away from the field on the weekend. Hovland picked up his second win of the season last week at the BMW Championship, which pushed him all the way to second in the FedEx Cup standings. He would start the week at 8-under, just two strokes behind Scottie Scheffler. Hovland started out solid with a 68 on Thursday that brought him to 10-under after 18 holes. But the big story was Collin Morikawa who started the week at just 1-under par but moved all the way to 10-under after a blistering 61 on Thursday. McIlroy, struggling with a back injury that he sustained at home prior to the tournament, managed to salvage an even par round. Scheffler struggled on Thursday, largely due to continued putting woes, shooting 1-over par to start the week.

On Friday, Morikawa kept his foot on the gas and shot another bogey-free round of 64. He would be joined by Hovland and Xander Schauffele who also each shot 64. Scheffler and Mcilroy were able to bounce back with rounds of 65 and 67 respectively. 

As the weekend began it was a tight leaderboard with all of the best players right in the mix. Unfortunately for Morikawa and Scheffler, the weekend was not kind. Both players struggled mightily and carded 73s on Saturday, while McIlroy also took a step backwards and carded 71. Hovland and Schauffele, on the other hand, continued their forward momentum. Hovland shot a 66 while Schauffele fired a 68 to put them both in prime position for the final round. But it was the Norwegian who held a commanding lead, and one question remained entering Sunday. Can anyone catch Hovland?

On Sunday the players took full advantage of excellent scoring conditions and it quickly turned into a birdie fest. Leading the charge was Hovland and Schauffele who both played bogey-free rounds. Schauffele carded 5-under on the front nine while Hovland was 4-under. The back nine was more of the same for both players, but by the 16th hole, Hovland’s lead grew to 4 shots. Despite a 62 from Schauffele, Hovland was able to win by five strokes after making birdie on the final three holes. Several others such as McIlroy (65), Wyndham Clark (65), Patrick Cantlay (66) and Tommy Fleetwood (66) finished with a strong Sunday round.  

It marks the first FedEx Cup season-long title for Hovland. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy is playing some stellar golf the last few weeks, which has to be exciting for European Ryder Cup fans.

Winner's Bag

That's back-to-back wins for PING staff member Viktor Hovland. This time, he closes out the Tour Championship and the season-long FedEx Cup title in dominant fashion thanks to elite ball-striking and hot putting at East Lake Golf Club. Hovland’s bag features primarily PING clubs, but he does have a couple of others mixed in. Off the tee he plays the previous-generation PING G425 LST driver (9 degrees). He has a pair of fairway woods -- one being a TaylorMade Stealth Plus 3-wood, and the other a PING G430 Max 7-wood. Leading the top of his iron set is a Titleist U505 utility iron that he frequently uses as a "fairway finder" club for tight tee shots. His exceptional approach play is powered by his set of PING i210 irons, which are several years old but nonetheless still deliver at the highest level in golf. Around the greens, he plays two PING Glide 4.0 wedges (50 and 56 degrees) as well as a PING Glide 2.0 lob wedge (60 degrees). Hovland also still uses his trusty PING PLD DS 72 prototype putter.

In the World Of Women’s Golf

This week the LPGA Tour was in Canada for the CPKC Women’s Open. Hosted at Shaughnessy Golf Club in Vancouver, the field featured the majority of the best players including Jin Young Ko, Ruoning Yin, Hannah Green, Yuka Saso, Brooke Henderson, and Allisen Corpuz.

Despite all the firepower in the field, probably the biggest story was Megan Khang -- the 25-year-old American seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour. Khang opened the week with a 71, but followed that up with rounds of 66 and 68 to take her first career 54-hole lead heading into Sunday.

South Korean S.Y. Kim seemed to be Khang’s biggest competition on Sunday, but it was Ko who made a big push on Sunday. Ko started the round five shots back of Khang, but as Khang struggled to open in the final round, Ko was able to inch her way closer to the lead. By the end of the round, Ko made four birdies along with just one bogey to shoot 69 after making a clutch par putt from about 12 feet on the 72nd hole.

After Khang dropped shots on both 13 and 17, she suddenly found herself three-over on the day and one shot behind Ko. Needing a birdie on the hardest hole on the course to force a playoff , Khang striped her drive on 18 and then stuck a 9-iron to 5 feet. Calm, cool, and collected, Khang buried the putt and the playoff with Ko was on.

The pair would head back to the difficult 18th tee for a sudden death playoff. A win for Ko would return her to the top spot in the world rankings, a position she’s held longer than any player in LPGA Tour history. For Khang, it would be her first career victory. But not just any victory -- a victory in a playoff against one of the greatest golfers ever.

Ko's tee shot drive was pulled way left, and Khang gained a quick advantage by smoking her driver right down the middle. Meanwhile, it turned out Ko's situation was worse than originally anticipated. She was forced to take an unplayable lie penalty, and even afer the drop, still was forced to hit an awkward punch shot into a greenside bunker shot. Khang, meanwhile, safely played her second shot to the left edge of the green.

After a difficult long bunker shot, Ko would face about 25 feet for her bogey which was seemingly her last gasp. The putt burned by the left edge of the hole, Khang would just need to three-putt for the win. Instead, she two-putted, and became an LPGA Tour champion.