Viktor Hovland of Oslo, Norway won the 2023 Memorial Tournament on Sunday at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. For Hovland, it was his fourth PGA tournament title as he previously won the 2020 Puerto Rico Open, the 2020 and 2021 World Wide Technology Championship in Mayakoba, Mexico.
For the first time in Hovland’s PGA Tour career he won in a playoff. He defeated Denny McCarthy of Takoma Park, Maryland. After both McCarthy and Hovland finished 72 holes, they were both at -7. Hovland had a score of par, while McCathy had a bogey.
This was the fourth playoff and second in two weeks on the PGA Tour in 2023. Just a week ago, Emiliano Grillo of Resistencia, Argentina won the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. Earlier this year, Chris Kirk of Knoxville, Tennessee won the Honda Classic in Florida, and 2022 United States Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England won the RBC Heritage in South Carolina.
At the 2023 Memorial, there were four more golfers in contention. The 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler of Ridgewood, New Jersey was all alone in third place at -6. Si Woo Kim of South Korea was all alone in fourth place at -5. Meanwhile, Americans Andrew Putnam of Tacoma, Washington and Jordan Spieth of Dallas, Texas were tied for fifth place at -4. Spieth is a three-time major champion as he won the 2015 Masters, 2015 United States Open and 2017 British Open. The fifth place finish is also a positive result for Spieth, who has been battling a wrist injury lately.
There is no doubt Muirfield was a tough test for the entire field. Only 15 golfers were under par. It will be interesting to compare the Memorial results to the 2023 United States Open results two weeks from now in Los Angeles.
