Viktor Hovland Player Profile And What's In The Bag
By: Derek Clements | Mon 05 Dec 2022
Article Updated - August 2023
KERCHING! Viktor Hovland produced a sensational display of golf to win the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup and $18m.
The 25-year-old Norwegian finished with a 63 - and he needed it as Xander Schauffele, his nearest challenger, ended the week with a 62. Questions have been asked about Hovland’s ability on the greens but he putted the lights out for four days. He had rounds of 68, 64, 66 and 63 for a 72-hole total of 261, five clear of Schauffele.
Luke Donald will be rubbing his hands. Not only did Hovland win, but Rory McIlroy finished fourth to record his 10th consecutive top-10 finish. And Tommy Fleetwood finished in a tie for sixth place with Scottie Scheffler.
Hovland also won last week’s BMW Championship and climbs to fourth in the world rankings - it means three of the best four golfers in the world are Europeans.
Hovland said: “This is the culmination of all the hard work me and my team have done. It feels surreal. I have played my best golf over the past couple of weeks. I made a 23-footer for par at the 14th and that was huge for me.
"My plan was to aim for the middle of greens and make lots of pars but Xander came after me and so I needed to change things and start attacking and, thankfully, it came off for me.
“My short game has improved massively and so has my course management. I also think I deal well with adversity. I know that I can hit a bad shot and then move on.
“I am so pumped for the Ryder Cup. It’s going to be a cool contest. Playing at Whistling Straits last time is one of my career highlights and it can only get better this time around."
Hovland finished the season making 23 successive cuts. At East Lake he finished first in fairways hit, scrambling, greens in regulation, strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained tee to green.
(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photogaphy)
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. His also won The Memorial in 2023. His victory at East Lake is 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.
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. It was just his 98th start and his sixth victory to go along with four runner-ups, four thirds, 19 top five and 24 top 10s. He has missed just 10 cuts and his career prize money now stands at more than $44m.
He is ranked now ranked fourth in the world.
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.
Last 10 Events
The Tour Championship - 1st
BMW Championship - 1st
FedEx St Jude Championship - T13th
The 151st Open - T13th
Genesis Scottish Open - T25th
Travelers Championship - T29th
US Open - 19th
The Memorial Tournament - 1st
Charles Schwab Challenge - T16th
US PGA Championship - T2nd
Key Stats (PGA Tour: 2022/23)
Driving Distance - 311.5 Yards
Driving Accuracy - 66.46%
Greens in Regulation - 68.98%
Sand Saves - 57.14%
Putts Per Round - 28.34
Scoring Average - 69.39
End of Year World Ranking Position
2020: 14
2021: 8
2022: 10
What's In Viktor Hovland's Golf Bag?
Driver: PING G425 LST (9 Degrees @8.4), Shaft: Fujikura Speeder TR 661 TX (45.75 Inches)
3-Wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 Degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
Irons: PING i210 (4-PW), Shafts: KBS Tour-V 120 X
Wedges: PING Glide 4.0 (50-12SS, 56-06SS), PING Glide 2.0 (58-12TS), Shafts: KBS Tour-V 130
Putter: PING PLD DS 72 Prototype
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Be part of the action with a selection of unique golf tournament experiences, from playing in a pro-am with the stars to watching the action at golf’s most illustrious events. Whether it’s the Masters or The Open, The Ryder Cup or WM Phoenix Open, build your own bespoke package with the experts at Golfbreaks.com.
What do you think? post your thoughts and feedback on the Golfshake comments: jump to comments here.
Tags: WITB WITB Tour Pro profile player profile PGA Tour in the bag Hovland FedEx Cup
