Viktor Hovland has message for Open chiefs after | Golf News

Viktor Hovland has slammed the sluggish tempo of play at this week’s Open Championship as “brutal” after enduring a grueling opening spherical that stretched practically six hours on Thursday.

The Norwegian golfer began his marketing campaign with a disappointing two-over-par 73 at Royal Portrush, managing an eagle and a birdie but dropping 5 pictures with bogeys. With his sport missing consistency, the crawling tempo around the Northern Irish course definitely did not do the PGA Tour star any favors.

Speaking after his spherical, Hovland did not mince phrases about the timing points. “It was really slow, I think almost six hours, just under six hours. That’s brutal, especially when you have to focus for so long,” he mentioned.

“It’s not easy. Wind picked up there in the afternoon. Yeah, it takes a lot out of you.”

The considerate competitor has gained a popularity as one of golf’s deep thinkers in latest years, having utterly overhauled his swing, gear, and help group over the previous two seasons.

Those prolonged delays between pictures on Thursday proved notably taxing for the European Ryder Cup consultant. “I’m not as comfortable as I feel like I should be, I think a little too much about the next shot in between the shots,” Hovland commented.

“That obviously takes a little bit more energy out of you. I’d like to be able to relax a little bit more, but that’s kind of the nature of the beast when you’re playing a major championship and you’ve got tough conditions. It’s hard to just completely take your mind off of it.”

The gradual tempo of play is a widespread concern not just at The Open Championship but also across the PGA Tour in latest years. The 2025 season has notably seen heightened ranges of frustration among followers and gamers alike.

LPGA Tour legend Dame Laura Davies calls for stricter measures to deal with the issue. Davies advocates for imposing penalty pictures on those who play too slowly, stating: “The only way you will ever speed them up is with shot penalties.

“It is as easy as that. As a fast participant, I might say that as I used to be never in hazard. If you need to pace them up, it could actually only be pictures… It has been horrible for a long time.

“The problem is that it is the pre-shot routines, the AimPoint business, and all these ways of reading greens. As a fast player, I used to hate it on the LPGA Tour; it was horrible. I’ve been on tour for 38 years, and it has not changed since day one.

“Unless you give shot penalties, if you give somebody two pictures at The Open, it might value them The Open. All of a sudden, they might be inclined to transfer, but they’re scared of giving pictures. It is just financial fines, these guys have more money than sense, so why would they fear about a superb?”