Viktor Hovland’s latest beat update is impressively open

If the golf swing were children’s books, Viktor Hovlandit would be GOLDEN.

Hovland is what is known in golf instruction circles as “the tinker.” He always feels that his golf swing is always too hot or too cold; never quite – a combination that has turned a prolific young star into one of professional golf’s hardest workers, but also potentially one of its overthinkers.

In the last 2 years alone, Hovland has hired, fired, re-hired, AND revived his swing coach, Joe Mayo to pursue his best golfing self. The result has been one of the most volatile two-year stretches for any top-level pro in recent memory, a string of highs (a Tour Championship win, top 5 finishes in each of the majors, a narrow runner-up loss at the PGA Championship in ’23) and the depths of bottom housing (MCs at the Masters, US and British Opens in ’24 – not to mention a broken finger to finish the year).

But now, Hovland has re-emerged to begin the third act of his final competitive life: the 2025 season. Hovland, like many other European stars, is in Dubai for the DP World Tour’s Desert Classic this week, where he will set the movement that he has spent most of the last few months working to improve. The problem, he says, is that improvement is coming slowly.

“Yeah, I mean, to be honest with you, I’d like to be a little more hopeful,” Hovland told DP World Tour. “But it has been very challenging. Even with the offseason I had, I was hoping to make a little more progress, feel a little better about my game. But it’s been … it’s been challenging. It’s a tough game, but I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”

Hovland’s year 2025 is off to an inauspicious start. He finished T36 in a limited field at the PGA Tour season opener in Kapalua, setting a new streak that featured a complete obstacle at the top of the back bend. Earlier that same week, Hovland announced that he and Mayo had parted ways again, opening the door for new swing coach TJ Yeaton to come out of the bullpen.

According to Hovland, his swing is and isn’t at the heart of the matter. In a sense, Hovland is looking for something he already has: a swing consistent and repeatable enough to regularly put him in contention in golf’s major tournaments. In another, he’s searching for something he’s never possessed: a level of satisfaction with his golf swing that will allow him to focus on golf. others infinitesimally small but utterly important components.

As for the second part, Hovland’s self-esteem was … open.

“I mean, I’m a certified nut,” he said. “There’s bound to be some mix-ups, but that’s the game. At least I have a better understanding and appreciation for what I used to do, even though there used to be some aspects of my swing that I didn’t really like, like it looked weird or strange.”

The swing is still stupid now, Hovland says, and hasn’t reached the threshold of stupid performance that carried it through most of 2023. That’s the real challenge.

“It just took a little longer than I would have liked,” he said. “But what’s nice is, and I try to tell myself that even last year, I made it to the tournament championship. I almost won a major, I almost won a playoff event, with a swing that I hate to see on camera, and I just don’t feel good when I swing. So there’s a lot of good golf out there, but I’ve got to at least give myself a chance to hit some good shots.”

If you’re Hovland, the bad news is that the golf season is ramping up. If fixes don’t come soon, 2025 could pass it. The good news – he thinks – is that he knows more today than he did yesterday, which means there is still reason for hope.

“Now at least you have a better understanding biomechanically, why that golf swing worked and why I’m struggling now,” he said. “I know much better. When I can see it on camera, tracking the numbers, I know what’s good and what’s not. And I’ll stay within bounds if that makes sense.”

Hovland hopes it makes sense, because he knows the whole process has been crazy.

Thankfully, he also knows the genius is mad.

Sometimes, it’s true.

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