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[ad_1] AUGUSTA: Viktor Hovland wore a shocking pink and white polo shirt for Thursday's opening round of the 87th Masters, but his game was simply electrifying. The 25-year-old Norwegian broke 70 for the first time at Augusta National, firing a seven-under par 65 to grab a share of the 18-hole lead with Spain's Jon Rahm and American Brooks Koepka. "You know a good score is out there, but you can't really force it," said Hovland. "You've just got to let it happen and if you have some makeable putts, you've got to make them and then you can get into a rhythm. "But it's one of those things, you push too hard and it will backfire." World number nine Koepka made five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 second on a 25-foot putt to dazzle the crowd. "Got off to a nice start," Hovland said. "Just kept hitting great shots on the front nine and made some putts, and before I knew it, somehow I was 6-under through 11 and j

[ad_1] CNN  —  The seventh episode of Netflix’s “Full Swing” is named “Golf is Hard.” It could easily serve as the title for the series itself. Taken literally, it could refer to how golf’s latest fly-on-the-wall show, documenting the 2022 PGA Tour season, shows just how difficult it is to win even a single tournament, let alone multiple or a major. In the case of Matt Fitzpatrick, US Open triumph – his first PGA Tour win no less – proved the ultimate payoff to a dogged commitment to self-improvement, the reward for countless hours spent pouring over data and spreadsheets. Dubbed the hardest working player in the men’s game, the 28-year-old Englishman is shown to have logged details of his shots since the age of 15. Trawling through a plastic box stacked with yardage books, Fitzpatrick estimates he has recorded over 7,000 swings from both competitions and the driving range.