The European squad bound for the 2023 Ryder Cup is starting to take shape.
Viktor Hovland became the third player to earn his way onto the team for the upcoming matches at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, near Rome, Italy. The six automatic qualifiers for the European team are split, three from a European Points List and three from a World Points List. The 25-year-old Norwegian is the first player to qualify via the World Points List after Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm earned their way via the European Points List.
Ranked No. 5 in the world, Hovland has finished inside the top 25 an impressive 16 times over 21 starts on the PGA Tour this season. He picked up a win at the Memorial and was T-2 at the PGA Championship. Hovland has also been impressive in the other majors this season after earning a T-7 at the Masters and top-20 finishes at the U.S. Open (19) and Open Championship (T-13).
A second Ryder Cup appearance awaits 🇳🇴#TeamEurope | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/xD8z2pyj61
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) August 15, 2023
Hovland made his debut for the European squad in 2021 and finished the week 0-3-2 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, where the Americans rolled to a 19-9 victory. He lost to Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, 3 and 2, alongside Paul Casey in Friday foursomes but picked up half a point with Tommy Fleetwood in the afternoon fourball session against Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay. On Saturday, Thomas and Jordan Spieth defeated Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger, 2 up, in the morning foursomes and then earned his second tie of the week in Sunday singles against Morikawa.
