Golfers are usually happy to take good luck any way they can get it, but most don’t bet on it arriving from the sky.
During Viktor Hovland’s 15th hole of the first round at the Open Championship on Thursday, a bird interrupted his approach shot by leaving a kind souvenir on his sleeve ā a dropping of poop that forced the golfer to take a momentary break.
“What was that,” he said, bewildered for a moment as he looked at his caddie.
“I just got sāt on,” Hovland said, laughing as he realized what had just happened.
Following some quick towel help from his caddie, Hovšland got right back to work, finishing at par on the š par-5 hole.
“You know, that’s good luck,” one of the announcers quipped.
He ended up finishing the round 1-under andš¶ is tied for 19th place at the major tournament.
Hovland, a 25-year-old Norwegian and rising star, probably doesn’t need that much luck to place competitively ā the golfer has earned over $22 million since he turned pro in 2019.
The Norwegian’s most recent title came at the Memorial Tournament in June, when he bested American Denny McCarthy to take the playoff win.
ą“However, Hovland is still winless ašt major tournaments.
He had a shot to take the PGA Championship away from Brooks Koepka but choked away his chance to become the first-ever major winner from his home country after one unfortunašte shot.
He finished the tournament tieād for second with Scottie Scheffler.
āIt sucks right now,āā he told The Post after his near miss. āBut it is really cool to see that things are going the right direction. If I just keep taking care of my business and just keep working on what Iāve been doing, I think weāre going to get one of these soon.”
Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo cāurrently lead thāe British Open at 5-under after the first round.