PARIS (Aftenposten): Viktor Hovland and Casper Ruud have more in common than being good at sports. Those who followed them at school saw some similarities.

Casper Ruud turned to the stands and cheered. The crowd in Paris rose. For the second year in a row, the Norwegian advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open.

The previous night he watched a thriller on TV. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see how it ended. He had to go to bed to prepare for his match.

But no, it wasn’t a film or series he was involved in, but another Norwegian sporting achievement. It happened 6,400 kilometers from Paris.

Golfer Viktor Hovland achieved the biggest win of his career when he won The Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, 15 hours before Ruud reached the quarterfinals of the French Open.

– What I saw was wild, Ruud told Aftenposten.

He and Hovland are examples of how Norway is now making its mark in a major world sport that we have traditionally not excelled at. Not long ago, the two of them were walking in the same corridor.

– Goal oriented and thorough

In 2013, Viktor Hovland started at Wang Toppidrett in Oslo. The following year, Casper Ruud started attending the same high school.

Ruud had shown extraordinary talent at that time. Christian’s father and coach keep the number of overseas competitions low compared to many others, but there will soon be more of them. Together with the teachers at school, father and son Ruud decided how to combine school and sports careers.

They were inspired by the way they had finished with Ulrikke Eikeri a few years earlier. When Ruud is at home, he has to focus on his studies.

Hovland hasn’t traveled much, but he wants to study in the United States. This is the number of professional golfers starting out.

Tommy Iversen Lund currently serves as assistant principal at Wang. He has Ruud in science and Hovland in mathematics.

– I must say that Viktor and Casper are also goal-oriented and thorough in their schoolwork. That’s what characterizes people who are good at sports too. That they are aware of their goals, what they must do to achieve them. They brought it into their schoolwork, Lund said in 2021.

Then he also said that Ruud and Hovland clearly have clear ideas about how they should combine school and sports.

– We didn’t have much contact with each other in Wang, although we went there at the same time. When someone asks and I say we go there, people tend to say “wow, do you always travel?” But I’m on the road a lot, and he’s focused and really a one-of-a-kind guy, without that being a negative thing. But he didn’t try hard. When he arrived at college, his career really took off. It’s been fun to follow, Ruud said.

Credit to Hovland

Most people know how both are. After going on a rampage as a junior, Ruud established himself on the world tour. Last year he became a member of the world’s top elite, when he played two Grand SlamsGrand SlamsGrand Slam is a collective term for the four biggest tennis tournaments. Ruud played in the finals of the French Open and US Open. The other two tournaments are the Australian Open and Wimbledon.– final. At this year’s French Open, there may be another one.

Hovland entered Oklahoma State University and gradually showed extraordinary development. In the past year, he has come close to victory in several of golf’s four major tournaments.

On Monday night, the initial highlight came. With legend Jack Nicklaus in place, he won the prestigious The Memorial Tournament. It was Hovland’s fourth win on the PGA Tour, his first on the mainland US.

And Ruud followed him until it was time to sleep. The tennis star is a big fan of golf. He actually follows NM 2020 and has almost 10,000 followers on his casper_golfer Instagram account, in addition to the half a million he has on his main account.

He really admires what Hovland provides.

– In recent years, he has shown that he can win all kinds of tournaments. There are no limits to the type of golf he can play, whether it is The Open in Great Britain, at Augusta (The Masters) or elsewhere. Wherever he is, he can win. It’s really raw. All credit to him for how good he is. This is a lot of fun for me and other golf fans. “I just hope this can continue, and hopefully we can both do well in the future,” said Ruud.

Dream round

Ruud is ranked fourth in the world, Hovland fifth after his latest achievement.

– Do you see any similarities in terms of the fact that you both have become so good at two world sports that Norway is not so good at them?

– I think we come from slightly different homes. He has a very funny and inspiring story. He got a lot from his mother, I got a lot from my father. Somewhat similar, said Ruud.

An avid golfer, the tennis star has a “little dream”: He hopes to one day play a round with Hovland.

– As an athlete, I know very well that he is not very at home in Norway. When he’s home, I’m sure he has other things he wants to do besides play golf with me, so I haven’t asked him directly if we should do that. “If I’m home this summer, I’m ready, then he can tell me if he wants,” Ruud said with a smile.

Golf-Norge celebrates Hovland’s biggest win. On Sunday, Casper Ruud will have his career highlight. Then the French Open final.

But first he had to get there. In the quarterfinals he met Holger Rune. This will be a repeat of last year’s fierce battle.

The match can be watched on Discovery+ and TVNorge on Wednesday night. The match starts as early as 20.15.