Viktor Hovland withdraws from U.S. Open after sand causes eye injury

June 18 (UPI) -- Norway's Viktor Hovland was forced to pull out of the U.S. Open golf tournament Friday after sand got in his eye and caused severe irritation.

Tournament officials said Hovland initially was injured during his pre-round warmup when sand from a divot flew into his left eye while he was hitting balls on the driving range.

Hovland sought medical attention twice, and the irritation was significant enough that he chose not to continue after a double-bogey on the par-4 first hole -- his 10th of the second round at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

The 23-year-old Hovland was 9-over par for the tournament, making it unlikely that he would have made the cut. He shot 74 on Thursday and was 6-over par in the second round.

Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion, was fully exempt and competing in his third U.S. Open. The two-time PGA Tour winner was runner-up at Torrey Pines earlier this year in the Farmers Insurance Open -- one of five top-3 finishes this season.

Richard Bland and Russell Henley were tied atop the leaderboard at 5-under 137 as the field wrapped up the second round.