Viktor Hovland sparks fury among PGA Tour fans with drop
European Ryder Cup star Viktor Hovland sparked a war of words among golf fans with an interesting drop during the third round of the Memorial Tournament.
Viktor Hovland sparked a war of words among PGA Tour fans with what some considered a controversial drop during the third round of the Memorial Tournament.
In truth Hovland did absolutely nothing wrong as you can use the rules of golf to your advantage.
But some felt that Hovland could have played this shot, despite his stance being impeded by a sprinkler head at Muirfield Village.
So what happened?
Well, Hovland was having a bit of a meltdown during the third round of the signature $20m PGA Tour event.
He was playing the par-5 11th hole and found the water with his second stroke after attempting to find the green in two.
From there, his pitch from 39 yards had far too much juice and settled in the thick rough.
According to Hovland, his ball came to rest near a sprinkler head and he was able to take relief.
Even the Sky Sports commentary team were a bit baffled as it was not visible.
Hovland could be seen telling his caddie Shay Knight the ideal place where he'd like to drop.
Here's a picture of the lie after taking relief thanks to CBS golf reporter Kyle Porter:
Hovland eventually trudged off the green with a bogey six.
It was the start of a nightmare run which saw the Norwegian play the 12th to the 16th in five-over par.
But this was undoubtedly the big talking point among golf fans.
"If there's no relief for divots, there shouldn’t be relief for this," one wrote.
Another added: "Hit the middle of the fairway and roll into a divot, no relief. Miss the green and be within a mile of a sprinkler, by all means drop away."
Others weren't so sure.
"There are rules in golf," this X user said. "Most penalise you, some can help. Take the help when you can get it."
This person wrote: "Disagree re: sprinklers but it really grinds my gears when a pro hits it into the grandstand and gets relief.
"When I play there are no grandstands to give me an artificial backstop."
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Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
