Viktor Hovland Player Profile And What's In The Bag

Article Updated - March 2025

There was redemption for Norway’s Viktor Hovland as he produced a brilliant finish to pip a resurgent Justin Thomas to the Valspar Championship title.

He had missed the cut in his previous three tournaments but carded a four-under 67 to beat American Thomas by one shot and claim a seventh PGA Tour title.

A run of seven birdies through 15 holes seemingly put Thomas on course for victory, but crucial dropped shots at the 16th and 18th saw him slip two shots behind Hovland, who could even afford a bogey of his own at the final hole.

• Player Profile
• Last 10 Events
• Key Stats
• World Ranking
• What's In The Bag

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It is 27-year-old Hovland's first PGA Tour win since the 2023 Tour Championship in Atlanta.

He said: "It's still kind of sinking in. I think when JT made a birdie on 15 and he was three shots ahead, I still just felt really calm and I wasn't really stressed. I just hit good shots and made some putts and it was awesome."

American Jacob Bridgeman, tournament leader at the halfway stage, carded a final-round 69 to finish one shot further back in third.

Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and American pair Bud Cauley and Billy Horschel finished tied for fourth place at eight under.

Player Profile

Hovland was born in September 18, 1997 in Oslo. His father, Harald, picked up golf while he was living and working in the United States as an engineer. He brought golf clubs back to Norway and taught Viktor to play at age 11. Viktor spent most of the year practicing golf at an indoor driving range. He learnt English by watching movies and loves metal music, listing Metallica as one of his favourite bands. He is also a keen football fan.

He won the US Amateur in 2018 and then became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour (at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open) and on the DP World Tour (at the 2021 BMW International Open). Hovland picked up his second and third PGA Tour wins at the 2020 and 2021 Mayakoba Classic. He also won The Memorial in 2023. His victory at East Lake was his sixth on the PGA Tour.

Hovland was the low amateur at The Masters in 2019, finishing three under par and in a tie for 32nd place. At the US Open in 2019 he finished in 12th place and was the low amateur with a total of 280, which was the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur at the US Open, breaking the record of 282 set by Jack Nicklaus in 1960.

He won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2022, which saw him climb to third in the world rankings. He has two wins on the DP World Tour. He represented Europe at the Ryder Cup in 2021 and 2023.

Hovland’s best finish in a major came at US PGA in May 2023, when he finished joint runner-up. He was also joint fourth at 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022.

He finished the 2023 PGA Tour season by winning the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship in successive weeks. He started the BMW Championship in seventh place in the FedEx Cup standings but his win took him to second, and his victory at East Lake meant he finished the year as the winner of the FedEx Cup, banking a cool $18m. 

Going into the BMW Championship, Hovland was 133rd for the season in final round scoring average. He finished the BMW with a 61 and East Lake with a 63, putting that statistic firmly to bed. He then chose to change his swing and suffered horribly throughout 2024 and that continued at the start of 2025. 

This was his 120th start and his seventh win to go along with five runner-ups, five thirds, 23 top five and 28 top 10s. He has missed 16 cuts and his PGA Tour career prize money now stands at more than $33m. This win takes him to eighth in the world rankings and 26th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Last 10 Events

Valspar Championship - 1st

The Players Championship - CUT

Arnold Palmer Invitational - CUT

The Genesis Invitational - CUT

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - T22nd

Hero Dubai Desert Classic - CUT

The Sentry - T36th

Tour Championship (72-Hole Scores) - 8th

BMW Championship - T26th

FedEx St Jude Championship - T2nd

Key Stats

Driving Distance - 311.5 Yards

Driving Accuracy - 61.51%

Greens in Regulation - 68.21%

Sand Saves - 80.95%

Putts Per Round - 28.83

Scoring Average - 70.78

End of Year World Ranking Position

2020: 14

2021: 8

2022: 10

2023: 4

2024: 8

Current Ranking: 8th

What's In Viktor Hovland's Golf Bag?

Driver: Ping G425 LST (9 Degrees)

3-Wood: TaylorMade Sim Ti (15 Degrees)

Irons: Titleist U505, Ping i210 (4-PW)

Wedges: Ping s159 (50-12S, 56-12S), Ping Glide 2.0 (60-TS)

Putter: Ping PLD DS 72 Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1