Viktor Hovland got off to a fast start in the final round at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and held on over the final nine, resulting in the 23-year-old’s second PGA Tour win – after his victory at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year.
Hovland rattled off three straight birdies on hole two to four, staking his tee shot on the short par-3 fourth hole to set up the final one of the stretch. Another at the sixth allowed him to go out in 32 before a hiccup bogey at the 12th. A stellar long iron into the par-5 13th led to a two-putt birdie that got that dropped shot back and another 12-footer for birdie at 14 kept the momentum going, as did a key up-and-down on a long sand save on 16. A final birdie at the last punctuated the win.
Hovland’s Ping i210 irons are forgiving players’ clubs with a large, wide port for the elastomer in the back that provides perimeter weighting to help mis-hits while also absorbing vibration. The 431 stainless-steel casting (a softer steel than traditional 17-4) includes milled grooves that change throughout the set to create more consistent spin in a players-friendly shape.
As for why he was drawn to the i210s, Hovland told Golf Digest shortly after turning professional, “I felt the i210s flighted the ball a little lower than the iBlades and I wanted that in the shorter clubs,” he said. “So that’s a bit unusual, but it works.”
Those clubs helped Hovland card 24 birdies, tied for the most in the field, and the former amateur star hit 61 greens in regulation (84.72 percent), which led the field, too. All of which added up to leading the field on the leaderboard for the second, but almost assuredly not the last, time in his career.
What Viktor Hovland had in the bag at the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G425 LST (Project X Hzrdus Smoke Black shaft), 9 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 15 degrees
Irons (2): Callaway X-Forged UT; (4-PW): Ping i210
Wedges: Ping Glide 3.0 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WW prototype (60 degrees)
Putter: Ping PLD
