Viktor Hovland addresses the media ahead of the 2024 U.S. Open. | Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
After Wyndham Clark called Pinehurst No. 2’s greens “borderline,” Viktor Hovland provided a different perspective.
Reigning champion Wyndham Clark called Pinehurst No. 2’s greens “borderline” ahead of the 124th U.S. Open.
In doing so, he referenced that the greens ‘bordered’ on playing unfairly.
Many players felt the United States Golf Association (USGA) raised the difficulty a notch. However, not everyone feels the greens are firm.
Look no further than Viktor Hovland, who disagreed with Clark on this topic. The Norweigan played the front nine of Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday but said he felt he got a good impression of the course.
“Because of all the rain that happened a couple of nights ago, it’s soft,” Hovland said on Tuesday.
“Like the greens are not that firm. If they were, in my opinion, borderline yesterday when the greens were soft, what if it starts blowing up a little bit, and the greens just keep getting firmer and faster? It’ll be interesting to see.”
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Throughout the front nine, Hovland’s caddie, Shay Knight, placed disks around the greens for him to putt towards, giving the Norwegian different looks at potential hole placements.
“There are multiple spots where I missed it, maybe a foot low side, with a hair too much speed—and the ball is off the green,” Hovland said.
“Seems to me that some of those pins are a little bit close to the dropoffs.”
Like many players who saw Pinehurst for the first time on Monday, the 26-year-old felt that this week would be demanding. Regardless of the challenge, Hovland loves this golf course.
“It’s a lot more severe than I remember it,” Hovland said. “It’s a hard golf course, but it’s cool. There are some narrow fairways, but it’s generous enough, and if you hit it offline, you can get penalized. There is some luck involved in missing the fairways. Sometimes you might have a good lie, and sometimes it’s a hack-out.”
“I’m a big fan of greens that are raised and roll off on the sides. I think that’s how golf courses should be designed. It’s the best way possible to design greens. Some of the pin locations look a little bit suspect… It’s a very high value for hitting greens. With so much slope and how fast the greens are, you’ve got to have some touch on the greens.”
Hovland and Clark have two different viewpoints of Pinehurst’s greens, but it seems to be all about perspective. It will be interesting to see how officials set up the course for the rest of the week.
The 26-year-old is paired with Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa for the first two days of the U.S. Open. They tee off on Thursday at 1:25 p.m. ET and Friday at 7:40 a.m. ET.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
