Hovland went one under par after six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. The Norwegian was two strokes ahead after the first front hole, but then it got better for him.

– I did a lot of good things, but also a little too many bad things. I did a good job getting myself in, and I did a good lap, Hovland told Discovery after the lap.

There were no early dreams for the first round of the PGA tournament in Ohio for Viktor Hovland, when he floated into the woods on the first hole, and had to collect a bogey.

Hovland hit back with par and birdies the next two holes, before he ended up in the bunker on hole four, finishing with a double bogey and two over-par.

Unstable spin

The Oslo boy continued a very unstable first half of the round, with birdies and bogeys alternating. After the first nine holes, Hovland was level.

With one bogey, two birdies and seven pars on the final nine holes, Hovland finished one stroke under par. As such, he is 34th, four strokes behind the lead. Six players – three Americans, one Canadian, one Australian and one South Korean – were in first place by five strokes under par in the first round.

number seven

Hovland has struggled on the golf course of late, with an 18th finish in Austin the best result in the last five PGA tournaments.

The 24-year-old is ranked seventh in the world. American Scottie Scheffler is ranked number one.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan was sent off in the first round. It turned out that one of his clubs had an illegal mark on him, which led to the US Masters winner being disqualified.