The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Comparing streaks of sub-70 rounds for Hovland, Estes
Viktor Hovland tied the PGA Tour record Sunday at The Greenbrier with his 17th consecutive round in the 60s, closing with a 64 to tie for 10th. He matched the mark set by Bob Estes in the fall of 2001, and it could shed some light on how much golf at the highest level has changed in two decades.
Both had every round in the 60s at four straight tournaments. Hovland’s streak started with a 64 in the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, while Estes’ streak ended with a 63 in the final round at Las Vegas when it was a fiveround tournament.
Estes had a scoring average of 67.29 during his streak. His worst finish was a tie for eighth in the Air Canada Championship. He was a runner-up in the Canadian Open to Scott Verplank (two days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks), tied for third at the Texas Open and won Las Vegas.
In the three events he did not win, Estes finished a combined 18 shots out of the lead.
Hovland’s scoring average in his streak is 66.59, nearly three-quarters of a shot lower. However, his best finish during his streak was a tie for fourth in the Wyndham Championship. He tied for 13th in the 3M Open in Minnesota and tied for 16th in the John Deere Classic. He finished a combined 25 shots out of the lead.
It could be another illustration that low scores don’t go as far as they used to.
Hovland, who is playing the European Tour this week, was surprised the streak wasn’t longer. He also isn’t sure how much longer his can last.
“I turned pro out of school in the summer, and I don’t know how the other golf courses we play out there for the other half of the season, but we’ve been playing courses that have been pretty gettable — not a whole lot of wind and greens have been fairly soft.”
Then again, no one else in those four tournaments has put together a streak like this.
“I’ve just played pretty consistently,” he said. “So yeah, it’s been a pretty cool ride.”
Tiger odds
Bettors don’t have as much faith in Tiger Woods as they did in April.
Right after Woods won the Masters for the fifth time — his 15th major — Westgate Superbook listed him as the 8-1 favorite to win at Augusta National in 2020. Five months later, Woods was listed at 16-1, with Brooks Koepka (9-1) and Rory McIlroy (10-1) the leading favorites.
Woods missed the cut at the PGA Championship and British Open, tied for 21st in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and did not reach the Tour Championship.
Westgate Superbook also listed him at 2-1 that he would win more than 15 majors on the night after he won the Masters. This week, the odds were 3-1.