Watch: Viktor Hovland botches bunker shot, saves par with miraculous hole-out at the Memorial

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There’s a recurring bit here at Golf Digest that the pros are just like us. Obviously, they’re not. Just watch us drive the ball once, and you’ll know that. But it’s still nice to see the best golfers in the world botch a shot or two, so we can feel better about ourselves.

World No.5 Viktor Hovland attempted to pull one of those “just like us” moments overnight at Jack’s Place, but there’s a reason why he’s the defending Memorial champion and we’re not. The Norwegian followed up his “brutal” bunker botch with something a bit better. For a split-second, he was one of us and then the world righted itself.

On Muirfield Village’s par-3 12th hole, Hovland found himself at the very edge of the bunker beside the green. He plunked the ball up in the air only to watch it roll back even further into the trap. He then followed that up with a hole-out, because… well, he’s good at golf.

Hovland went as far as to give fans a Michael Jordan-esque shrug and then followed his unlikely par save with two straight birdies, finishing his first round at the Memorial with a three-under 69.

Good golfers may hit a bad shot or two, but they’ll eventually figure things out. The rest of us, well, you know how it goes.