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Viktor Hovland breaks longstanding PGA Tour record, continues incredible scoring streak at the CJ Cup

October 17, 2019
The CJ Cup @Nine Bridges - Round One

Chung Sung-Jun

A first PGA Tour title hasn’t come as fast for Viktor Hovland as it has for fellow newbies Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa. But if there’s any doubt this 22-year-old Norwegian isn’t also the real deal, he just broke a longstanding tour record. And he needed less than four months as a pro to do it.

Hovland shot an opening 69 at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges on Thursday to continue a remarkable streak. He now has shot in the 60s for 18 consecutive PGA Tour rounds, breaking the previous record set by Bob Estes in 2001. Sorry, Bob.

For much of his round, the streak was in serious jeopardy as Hovland was even par through 11 holes on the par-72 course on Juju Island in South Korea. But he birdied three of his next six holes before making par on No. 18 to post yet another sub-70 score.

Hovland’s historic streak started with a 64 in the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Championship in June. His last five final round scores have been 64-65-64-65-64. Decent.

For the record, this mark technically only dates back to 1983, when the PGA Tour officially began tracking the statistic. Also for the record, 1983 was 14 years before Hovland was born.

Hovland finished the first round at the CJ Cup tied for 15th. He trails leader Ben An by five shots.