The Norwegian golf star had to endure two bogeys, but with the help of six birdies and an eagle he climbed about 30 places on the charts.
The 28-year-old is tied for 11th place after three rounds – nine strokes under par. He is four strokes behind Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who leads the tournament.
Hovland was among those who started the day on the 10th hole. He started strongly with birdies on the 12th and 13th holes, before the first bogey of the day came two holes later. On the 17th hole he hit back with another birdie, and the last half of the round started even better with a birdie on the 1st, eagle on the 3rd and another birdie on the 5th hole.
A bogey on the 6th hole got him back to five under par for the day, but he didn’t give up until he rolled in another birdie putt on the 8th hole.
While the game worked for Hovland on Saturday, Kristoffer Reitan struggled. He used 75 strokes in his round, i.e. ten more than his compatriot.
Reitan was two strokes ahead of Hovland halfway through the tournament, but he fell to joint 63rd place after a round with two birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey. The latter came on the 11th hole and destroyed a lot.
