Viktor Hovland enters the 107th PGA Championship coming off a string of consistent form.
Hovland’s spring has been highlighted by his win at the Valspar Championship in March. Though last week at the Truist Championship he stepped back with posting a T54, he finished T21 at the Masters last month and followed that up with a T13 at the RBC Heritage in mid-April.
“What I'm happy about is the progress that I've made since right before the Valspar, and even since the Valspar. I think I'm definitely trending in the right direction,” Hovland said during Wednesday’s presser. “But there's still just some stuff left in there that just doesn't allow me to play to the level that I want to play at. At the Valspar, I proved to myself that with even (my) worse ball-striking, I can still be competitive, and I think the tournament here last year was also another proof of that.”
The Norwegian is not afraid to share how hard he can be on himself. He shared with the media ahead of last year's PGA Championship — where he ultimately finished in third — he was so frustrated with his game he nearly withdrew from the tournament, only playing because it happened to be a major. Learning how to manage his expectations seems to be an ever-evolving work in progress for the European Ryder Cup star.
“Yeah, I do beat myself down with kind of where I'm at technically, and it's not fun when you're out there trying to predict a certain golf shot and the ball flight does the opposite. But even despite that, I don't doubt my abilities to get the ball in the hole. Yeah, we'll see what happens this week.”
The 27-year-old has been a threat at major championships, but has been at his best at the PGA Championship. Two years ago, he finished T-2 after playing in the final round last group with Brooks Koepka as his chance at the Wanamaker and an elusive first major title evaporated when his iron shot plugged in a bunker on the 70th hole. He finished in solo third at Valhalla last year, three shots behind Xander Schauffele.
“I frame kind of last year (Valhalla) as a huge positive because I think — although I shouldn't have probably admitted that, either — I almost didn't play last year, and I almost won the tournament,” Hovland said. “So it's like I look at that as a huge win. I almost won a major championship without feeling good about my game at all. So I don't look at that as, like, ‘man, I'm lacking a bunch of stuff.’ If I can get the rudimentary part of the game back to where it should be, I don't doubt my abilities to win a golf tournament."
The young star likes the way his game has progressed over recent major championships.
“I'm a lot more mature, I'm a lot more experienced, and I have more tools in my arsenal now to compete at these big events,” Hovland said.
Hovland’s road toward a major title has been filled with invaluable learning moments along the way. In 2022 at Southern Hills after his final round when he finished T41, Hovland was going through growing pains in learning how to contend more in major championships.
“It’s more about just staying in it, instead of maybe being a little too aggressive and trying to push and make birdies,” Hovland said. “I just haven’t really had my game in the majors that I’ve played and made a few too many mistakes.”
But he would go on and play his way into the final pairing on the Sunday of The Open Championship that same year in the company of Rory McIlroy, where he would finish T4. He went on to earn a T7 at the Masters the following year before getting into that final group with Koepka at Oak Hill.
Arriving at Quail Hollow with plenty of experience, Hovland looks at the course as a test that will prioritize distance and good driving to get oneself in the mix come the weekend. Good play along the green mile, Quail Hollow's challenging closing final three holes, will be paramount in his mind.
“It's just long. 16 is just a really long hole. But it's pretty generous off the tee, and even the green is pretty big. But 17 is a really hard hole with the water all along the left side, and if they have the tee boxes all the way back, you're hitting a 5- or a 4-iron, and even though you've got room to the right, there's a little slope down there that's a difficult up-and-down. It just forces you to hit good shots. This course doesn't allow you to hide.”
He'll face the test starting with his opening tee time Thursday at 1:47 p.m.
