Viktor Hovland, golf's smiling assassin, says he's no longer feeling 'deadly'

Viktor Hovland has returned to the Bahamas to defend his Hero World Challenge title feeling he’s become a better chipper and putter in the past 12 months but having lost a bit of the spark in his iron play.
Viktor Hovland poses with tournament host Tiger Woods after winning the 2021 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, .Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.Viktor Hovland poses with tournament host Tiger Woods after winning the 2021 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, .Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.
Viktor Hovland poses with tournament host Tiger Woods after winning the 2021 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, .Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

The Norwegian signed off with a final-round 66 at the Albany resort 12 months ago to win the event hosted by Tiger Woods by a shot from Scottie Scheffler.

In doing so, Hovland became the first player to land the title on their debut since Jon Rahm achieved the feat in 2018 while the win also made it three straight European successes following Henrik Stenson’s victory in 2019.

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“Yeah, it was a lot of fun last year,” admitted Hovland, who finished with an 18-under-par 270 title as he landed a fifth professional triumph at the age of just 24.

“It was one of those victories that I didn't really feel like I was in contention up until nine holes to play, so it was fun to be in that position and then capitalise.”

Just over a month later, Hovland also won the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour and has been either in or around the top ten in the world rankings for the past year.

“Yeah, I felt like I made some good progression,” he said in reply to being asked about his 2022 campaign. “I would say I'm a better chipper, I'm better around the green and I've taken a huge step in the right direction in terms of putting.

“I didn't really feel like I was a great putter before, but now I feel like I'm a consistently good putter, which is a huge strength.”

Explaining how that had been achieved, he added: “It's trying to break putting into categories. You've got to start the ball online, you've got to have good speed control and then you've got to have good green reading.

“I always felt like I've started the ball really well online and I've had pretty decent speed, but I would have weeks where I would start balls online and I would miss six-footers, you know, because I just wasn't reading it right.

“So I think AimPoint was a huge step in the right direction for me. Some people just see the breaks naturally and they can figure out where to aim.

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“I just, I guess I didn't have that angular acute that some other people have and AimPoint was a way for me to trust the system that at least gets me closer to the hole instead of just a wild guess.”

It’s not all been positive, though. “I feel like I have lost a little bit of the consistency in terms of ball-striking week to week,” he continued. “I think it's helped me a lot that I've gained some more speed and I have a few more shots that maybe I didn't have before.

“But I think the basic shots - 90 per cent of the shots that you hit - are not as good as what it used to be. I felt like my ball-striking just hasn't quite been up to par and it's a little frustrating showing up to events when you don't feel like you have your best stuff.

“You might hit a 7-iron from the fairway and you don't have the confidence over the ball thinking, ‘OK, I'm going to stuff this 7-iron’, because that's what I used to do when I first came out here and the last two years basically it's been pretty deadly from the fairway.

“It's just a little frustrating when the ball isn't doing what you want it to be doing and it feels like the whole day's going to be a little bit of a grind, but that's golf. It's a challenge and you just have to fight through it.”

The 20-player field for the eighth World Challenge under the Hero banner includes 17 of the top 25 players in the Official World Golf Ranking led by Scottie Scheffler (2), Jon Rahm (5), Xander Schauffele (6), Justin Thomas (8), Matt Fitzpatrick (9) and Collin Morikawa (10).

Rahm won the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in his most recent outing and the Spaniard is relishing his final assignment of the year, having won and finished second in his two previous appearances here.

Referring to the pro-am having been halted by heavy rain in the Caribbean, he said: “I'm hoping the weather holds up a little bit more the rest of the week, but really delighted to be back.

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“It's a relaxed week and maybe that's why I played such good golf the last few times. It's a good golf course, always in good condition.

“Obviously with how much water we've gotten the last few days it's not going to be as fast and firm as it's been in the past, but it still holds up. So looking forward to getting going.”

Seven of the 20 players are making their debuts, including 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, new Korean hot-shot Tom Kim and Austrian Sepp Straka, who has replaced Woods following his withdrawal due to a foot problem.

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