Viktor Hovland Pulls Selfless Move For College Roommate A Day After Winning Memorial Tournament

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It’s been a pretty solid few years for Viktor Hovland, the PGA Tour golfer who turned pro after setting an amateur record at the U.S. Open in 2019 before proving he could more than hold his own with the best players on the planet.

The 25-year-old Norwegian currently occupies the fifth spot in the Official World Golf Rankings after securing his fourth PGA Tour victory at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club over the weekend by defeating Denny McCarthy in a one-hole playoff to ensure he’d walk away with the trophy and the $3.6 million that accompanied it.

Hovland and most of the other players who took the trip to Dublin, Ohio will now turn their attention to the upcoming U.S. Open, which is slated to kick off on June 15th at Los Angeles Country Club.

There are still plenty of guys gunning for the chance to participate in the major—including the 107 competitors who teed off at the Lakes Golf and Country Club in Ohio on Monday in the hopes of securing one of the 11 spots that will allow them to book a trip to California next week.

That group includes Zach Bauchou, who was roommates with Hovland while they were members of the golf team at Oklahoma State University.

According to CNN, Bauchou headed into the day as the 1,859th best player in the world on the aforementioned OWGR list, but it probably didn’t hurt that he had a pretty solid caddie at his side in the form of Hovland, who made the 30-minute drive from Dublin to Columbus less than 24 hours after the victory to give his friend some guidance.

I’m sure Bauchou would’ve understood if Hovland told him there’d been a change of plans in the wake of his win at the Memorial Tournament, but it’s hard to think of a better gesture of true friendship than his decision to commit to his promise.