[PHOTO: Richard Heathcote]
Viktor Hovland doesn’t sound like a guy who’s back from the wilderness.
The Norwegian was arguably the best player in golf 16 months ago, winning the 2023 FedEx Cup and delivering a remarkable showing in the Europeans’ runaway victory at the Ryder Cup in Rome. Last season, however, Hovland was a guy who knew he lost but had no idea how to get back, going so far as to drop out of a signature event because he no longer had faith in making solid contact. The thing is, Hovland still had a good year: he nearly won the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and was one of the 30 players to make it to the PGA Tour’s season-finale at East Lake. But it was nowhere near the heights he had previously reached and his performance begged questions about what, exactly, was going on.
Speaking in Dubai ahead of the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Hovland was asked about his struggles and current frustrations with his game.
“Yeah, certainly makes me cherish how I used to play golf for the first, say, four years of my career,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s been very effortless. Just kind of standing over the ball and knowing that, OK, the ball is going to start somewhere there end and up over there somewhere. That’s a pretty stress-freeway of playing golf.
“Obviously I’ve always tried to push myself, and even when it was really good, I kept on pushing it, and maybe setting too high expectations because maybe didn’t realise how good it was or I thought it could continue to get better and better and better. For the most part of my career, every decision that I’ve made to change something up in order to play better, it has worked. But you know, last year and some change, I’ve just gotten into some bad habits, and there’s been a couple of key moves that I used to make in my old golf swing that I’m currently not doing. And I’ve got to get back to making that movement in order to play my best golf. That’s just kind of where we’re at.”
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One of the perceived issues is Hovland’s tinkering with his swing. He reunited with former instructor Joe Mayo midway through last season to try to right the ship, only to again part ways by the end of the season. Hovland is now working with coach T.J. Yeaton while trying to navigate a broken toe that’s forcing him to wear two different shoe sizes.
Hovland was asked if he regrets making any changes after his historic 2023, and while he did acknowledge second thoughts he also asserted too big a deal has been made of his alterations.
“I mean, you could say that. I think a lot of people have it maybe misconstrued a little bit that I made a conscious decision to go down this rabbit hole,” Hovland said. “I think it’s just your golf swing is an ever-evolving organism, and every week you’re out here playing, you have intentions and feels that would seem relatively innocuous. But you keep those intentions and feels in there, and then might morph into something else. I just didn’t address it.
“You know, just to put it simply, I added a lot of draw pieces in my golf swing because I’d always been a cutter, and I wanted to see the ball not cut as much. And then you add more draw pieces in there, and then suddenly, I get sick and tired of it missing left and now I’ll want to cut it, and that compensation was not good for my swing. It’s just a process of, you know, s–t happens. Like I didn’t go down there and say, no, this is better.
“I made a poor decision. That’s the game of golf for you. It’s hard to play golf 20 years great.”
Hovland admitted his game is still not feeling great, or in a place where he wants it to be. As has been the case for the past year, he’s been one of the last players on the range during practice days in Dubai, trying to work out what ails him. “When you’re trying to get back to old patterns, you’ve got to work on it,” Hovland said. “It doesn’t happen on its own. So you’ve got to put some extra work in.” Still, Hovland sounds relatively optimistic about what’s ahead in 2025.
“It’s mostly about just process and making sure that I’m controlling the things that I can control; that technique-wise, things are in order, and I’m doing the right things that increases the chances of me playing the best that I can,” Hovland said. “And then whatever happens, happens.”
