Viktor Hovland gets ice cream delivered to him in the middle of The Open Championship practice round
Viktor Hovland played his practice round on Wednesday, July 17 at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland, the site of The Open Championship 2024. The Norwegian took advantage of a break on the 13th hole to grab a snack, but he chose an unconventional one.
Hovland was spotted receiving a hand-delivered ice cream cone in the middle of the Royal Troon Golf Club course. This was reported by a fan present at the course via his personal account on X (formerly Twitter).
"Hovland just had ice cream hand delivered to him at hole 13," the fan posted, along with a picture of the player and his ice cream.
The fact that Viktor Hovland had an ice cream during his round made an impression on some fans due to the typical Scottish weather conditions. Although it was a sunny day, temperatures below 68°F were reported at Royal Troon Golf Club on Wednesday.
However, Viktor Hovland was born and raised in Norway, a country with a very cold climate. He hails from Oslo, where the average annual temperature lies between 19.8°F and 70.7°F, but is significantly cooler outside of the summer months.
Viktor Hovland goes into The Open Championship having played in 12 events this season, making 10 cuts. His best finish was a tie for third at the PGA Championship, which was also his only top-10 finish of the year.
Hovland has been unable to repeat his success of last season, when he won three PGA Tour events in addition to the FedEx Cup title.
A look at Viktor Hovland's career record at The Open Championship
Viktor Hovland will be competing at The Open Championship this week for the fourth time in his career. The Norwegian has put together strong performances at the event, finishing in the top 15 on all three of his outings.
Hovland made his debut in 2021 at Royal St George's Golf Club, and finished T12 with a score of 6-under 274, nine shots behind champion Collin Morikawa.
A year later, Hovland returned to the event, this time at St. Andrews. In his second experience at The Open, he finished tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood with a score of 14-under 274. Hovland was the event leader after the third round, but eventually finished six shots behind champion Cameron Smith.
At Royal Liverpool (2023), Hovland finished tied for 13th with a score of 3-under 281, 10 shots behind champion Brian Harman.
Hovland has had other good experiences playing on Northern European courses. In 2018, he represented Norway at the Eisenhower Cup, which was played at Carton House Golf Club in Ireland. He finished T5 in the team event and T8 in the individual event.