Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Hovland showed some moxy on the course, and his fun side off of it but he missed the mark when trying to pull one on The Bear.
Viktor Hovland took home The Memorial trophy on Sunday. and couldn’t resist trolling event host Jack Nicklaus. Well, he tried anyway. Most know that Nicklaus went to Ohio State University, or short, OSU. The Memorial is played in Dublin, Ohio, a brief 23-minute drive to the Buckeyes campus.
Hovland attended Oklahoma State University, also known as OSU. After winning on Sunday, the Norwegian tried to joke with Nicklaus about where he went to school but butchered the punch line.
During the trophy ceremony, Nicklaus asked if Hovland went to Oklahoma State, and someone off camera said go ahead and say it. Instead of saying yeah, the real OSU, he said, “The real Oklahoma Stat— the real OSU.” So close, Hovland, but then he said the best part of the video.
“I didn’t have the balls to do it in front of you, Jack,” Hovland said in a PGA Tour social media video.
So he was clearly nervous about trying to tell a harmless joke to one of the biggest names in the history of golf.
Nicklaus laughed it off and said he wonders about that sometimes himself, buying into the light-heartedness of the moment. Hovland loved it when Nicklaus said that, laughing and clapping his hands.
As the photos continued to snap, Nicklaus told him to collect that big check and enjoy. Hovland won $3.6 million at Jack’s Place, as The Memorial is now one of the new elevated events.
Interestingly, instead of going out and partying after the biggest win of his career, he did a close friend a solid. Less than 14 hours after clinching the title, Hovland caddied for a former OSU roommate at U.S. Open qualifying Monday.
