World Cup fever swept through TPC River Highlands on Thursday as soccer fans made a pit stop at the Travelers Championship.
While the soccer tournament is dominating the United States this summer, the PGA Tour is still rumbling on as scheduled.
The tour returned to Cromwell, Connecticut, this week for its annual Travelers Championship, where Norwegian fans decided to take a detour from the soccer extravaganza.
A group of around seven supporters were spotted behind the ropes in their red Norwegian national team jerseys during Thursday’s opening round.
They closely followed Norwegian stars Viktor Hovland and Kristoffer Reitan, who finished tied-second at the end of the opening day, and they brought their iconic chant with them.
The nation has been leaning into its centuries-old Norse history – with fans, players and politicians all on board.
World Cup fever hit the PGA Tour as Norwegian fans performed their viral Viking row
The cluster of Norwegian fans watched Kristoffer Reitan at the Travelers Championship
The Norwegians have taken the World Cup by storm with their viral Viking row – one of the most eye-catching celebrations at the tournament.
After Reitan rolled in a putt on Thursday, the cluster of Norwegian fans were caught on the broadcast chanting and performing the rowing gesture from behind the green.
The move caught the attention of the golfer, who let out a wry smile at his countrymen before getting in on the action himself and performing his own mini row.
The norsemen have been rowing throughout the United States, capturing the hearts of bemused Americans.
During the chant, several fans wearing Viking helmets have been seen rowing in unison in bars, on the stands and even on public transport, to embrace the heritage of their seafaring Scandinavian forefathers.
They even landed in Citi Field earlier this week, taking their famous row to the New York Mets’ game again.
During the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, they turned the bleachers into a longship with the celebration.
New York’s mascots, Mr and Mrs Met, even got in on the action, joining the Norwegian fans as they brought the atmosphere to Citi Field.
They also showed their support for Norwegian World No 30 Viktor Hovland in the first round
Norway fans also brought their iconic chant to the New York Mets game on Wednesday
Martin Odegaard led a remarkable Viking Row celebration after Norway beat Senegal 3-2
They also delivered a hilarious mid-game moment when Dansby Swanson hit a game-changing three-run homer for the Cubs.
After the ball cleared the fence, the camera panned to the right-field stands where the Norwegian fans were bizarrely doing a celebratory walk through the bleachers, clearly not reading the room.
Following Norway’s 3-2 win over Senegal in Group I on Monday, which sealed their spot in the knockout stages, captain Martin Odegaard led an astonishing stadium-wide Viking Row to celebrate.
A drum was brought out onto the pitch at the New York New Jersey Stadium for Odegaard, who led the astonishing Viking Row ritual.
Erling Haaland and his teammates sat on the turf and performed a rowing motion along with thousands in the stadium as conductor Odegaard beat the drum with passion, speeding up with each strike.
Before, during and after Norway’s opening 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston, the country’s red-clad fans, many of them wearing Viking helmets, were pictured rowing in unison in bars, on public transport and even on escalators around the stadium as they embraced the heritage of their seafaring Scandinavian forefathers.
World Cup fever has even spread to Norway’s parliament, where elected representatives performed a recreation of the rowing on the other side of the Atlantic.
A parliamentary session on June 18 was briefly interrupted when the speaker suggested that the members repeat the fans’ rowing action to show the nation’s support for the ongoing campaign, and the parliamentarians responded enthusiastically in a cross-party display of unity.
