Just in time for the constant short-game challenge at Augusta National, Viktor Hovland regained his confidence over the ball by going back to his tried and trusted putter.
After trying three different models, Hovland said he realized the answer wasn’t the equipment. He rebounded from missing the cut at three consecutive events to win the Valspar Championship with 7.4 strokes gained with the short stick.
“I went back to the old gamer I’ve always had,” Hovland said, confessing he was fighting “noise” in his mind more than technique. “It’s nice to experiment a little bit. I realized it definitely wasn’t the putters’ fault. I hadn’t put too much time on the putting green. I got more confidence over the ball. I think that was the issue in-tournament. I hadn’t put in the work.”
Equipment has been a shrug-and-smirk topic for Hovland in the past, no surprise given one of his seven career wins — a defense of his 2020 victory in the Word Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in 2021 — with a shorter driver borrowed from James Hahn.
Hovland switched coaches and was fully transparent with adjusting movements in his swing — “wrist flex” and what he referred to Tuesday as reverse engineering. On Tuesday, he said chipping, pitching and putting with the renewed trust in his Ping PLD DS72 putter is vital this week.
“For me, it’s definitely the short game. It seems like this whole place, the way it’s set up, it doesn’t allow you to get away with poor technique,” Hovland said. “Around the greens, because it’s a longer grass, it’s always mowed into you, if you have a subpar technique it’s really going to punish you. … It truly tests the best players.”
Hovland, who missed the cut here last year, prepared in Orlando with Grant Waite, who replaced previous swing coach Denny Lucas.
The 27-year-old Norwegian said he is looking forward to testing his renewed self-belief over the next two days to prepare for Thursday’s first round and another crack at winning his first major.
Waite worked with Ping to help fit Hovland for a new driver he’s been testing with a revised swing. A stiffer shaft on the G440 Ventus Black proved to be a match, increasing ball speed and erasing some of his concern about mishit tee shots.
His results in Augusta since he turned pro over 18 total rounds include a tie for seventh in 2023. He made the cut four of five previous Masters with a high round of 81 and a best of 65.
“Feeling a lot better (than this time last year),” Hovland said. “Whether we can get that out on the course and equate to a good score, that’s a different story.”
Admittedly emotional and reactive, Hovland said he doesn’t see a problem admitting when his game isn’t where he wants it to be because he always intends to persevere.
“It’s just being honest. I know how good it could truly be. It sucks when you are there and not seeing progress. It can seem a little bit futile,” he said. “As long as you are getting up every day, reevaluating what you are doing and trying to get there — I think that’s the most important thing. … There is always a solution, there is always an answer. You’ve just got to find it.”
–Field Level Media
