Harrington Confirms Hovland Has Joined European Tour

The Norwegian star has joined with an eye on the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Harrington Confirms Hovland Has Joined European Tour
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Norwegian star has joined with an eye on the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Harrington Confirms Hovland Has Joined European Tour

2020 Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington has confirmed Norwegian star Viktor Hovland will join the European Tour with the objective of making the team next year.

In a press conference at the BMW PGA Championship, Harrington was bombarded with questions about the youngster taking the game of golf by storm.

Harrington said of him; "He really does look like fine player, like his play has been phenomenal. The way he goes about it, I'd say with a small interaction with him, looks like he's got a good attitude, well focused. Feels like to me, it looks like feels like he belongs, which is the biggest key to a young rookie coming out on Tour. You know, if they look like they are caught in the headlights, they could disappear quickly, where Victor really does look like he's here to play golf."

Harrington went even further to admit that Hovland will be joining the European Tour with the objective of making the 2020 team.

During the press conference Harrington acknowledged this saying, "He's made himself eligible. He's joined as an associate member at the moment and that's his intention for next year at a minimum. So yeah, he's made himself eligible to collect both points this week and World Ranking points all the way through. So he's in position if he plays the golf, yes, his points will start counting and we won't have a situation of three months down the line going, oh, we wish we could go back. He's been well advised."

Harrington and Hovland were paired together for the opening two rounds of the BMW PGA Championship, which was something the three-time Major winner had organised in advance.

"I have a list of players that both myself and Robert (Karlsson) will want to play with over the last number of weeks and the weeks coming," Harrington said. There's a good list, and generally they are the young players, as I said, the ones we wouldn't necessarily have played with in the past. Viktor is on that list and this is the first opportunity for that to happen, so that's why it's happened this week. But he's a name amongst, you know, maybe 20 names that we have chosen that we want to get out there and build those relationships with."

Expand Robert Karlsson Named As 2020 Ryder Cup Vice-Captain

Robert Karlsson Named As 2020 Ryder Cup Vice-Captain

Robert Karlsson Named As 2020 Ryder Cup Vice-Captain

Captain Padraig Harrington announced the news at the…

Expand 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Padraig Harrington

Robert Karlsson Named As 2020 Ryder Cup Vice-Captain

20 Things You Didn’t Know About Padraig Harrington

Get to know European Ryder Cup Captain Padraig…

Expand 18 Things You Didn’t Know About Viktor Hovland

Viktor Hovland pictured

18 Things You Didn’t Know About Viktor Hovland

Get to know young Norwegian star Viktor Hovland…

Don't forget to follow Golf Monthly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Sam Tremlett
E-commerce Editor

A golfer for most of his life, Sam is a Senior Staff Writer for Golf Monthly. 

Working with golf gear and equipment over the last six years, Sam has quickly built outstanding knowledge and expertise on golf products ranging from drivers, to balls, to shoes. 

He combines this knowledge with a passion for helping golfers get the best gear for them, and as such Sam manages a team of writers that look to deliver the most accurate and informative reviews and buying advice. This is so the reader can find exactly what they are looking for.


Sam now spends most of his time testing and looking after golf gear content for the website, whilst he is also responsible for all content related to golf apparel. 

He also oversees all Tour player content as well so if you need to know what clubs Tiger or Rory has in play, Sam is the person to ask. 

Unfortunately, Sam is not a member of any club at the moment but regularly gets out on the golf course to keep up the facade of having a handicap of five. 


Sam's What's In The Bag: 

Driver: Titleist TS3 (9 degrees) 

Fairway Wood: Callaway Paradym (15 degrees), Nike Covert Tour 2.0 (19 degrees) 

Irons (4-PW): Titleist AP2 

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 54˚, 58˚ 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Shoes: G/FORE Gallivanter/Nike Air Zoom Infinity NEXT%/Cuater The Ringer