Ryder Cup diary: Hovland hits hole in one to match gala’s coconut dessert

Team Europe's Viktor Hovland during a practice round at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, Italy, ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup. Picture date: Wednesday September 27, 2023.

Unlikely pairings 

The official gala dinner on Wednesday night was a prime opportunity to engage in some of the Ryder Cup’s more stubbornly enduring traditions: golf-themed desserts (this time a lavish coconut cream effort called “Hole In One”), bad music (the singer-songwriter Phillip Phillips, who I’m sure played in the singles at Celtic Manor in 2010), and of course putting women in expensive dresses and making them stand silently while other people photograph them.