2023 has indeed been a rollercoaster year for Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland. With dynamic highs and troubling lows, Hovland’s journey offers a compelling narrative for golf enthusiasts and analysts alike.
First and foremost, Hovland’s peak performance moments were nothing short of spectacular. Securing the FedEx Cup Playoffs title and producing an extraordinary final-round 61 at the BMW Championship outside Chicago are milestones that underscore his immense talent. These achievements were punctuated by his victory at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where he demonstrated remarkable skill and resilience.
Yet, the season was not without its struggles. Hovland’s journey was marked by several challenging periods, particularly highlighted by his standing in the PGA Tour’s statistical categories. Entering the St. Jude Championship ranked 57th in the FedEx Cup standings, he was facing mounting pressure. Moreover, his strokes gained approach numbers dwindled to +0.46 per round, and he found himself ranked 175th out of 176 players on the Tour in strokes gained around the green. It was a season where, despite some flashes of brilliance, Hovland had just one top-10 finish and recorded the worst total strokes gained output of his career.
Nevertheless, Hovland’s candid reflections provide an invaluable insight into the mind of a professional athlete grappling with both success and form. Reflecting on his struggles, Hovland stated, “The things that I did in my swing that made me good, that made me able to predict a certain ball flight, I went home and tried to do a certain move – not necessarily because I had in mind that I wanted to change my pattern. I knew my pattern was really good, but I was upset that I wasn't cutting the ball as much as I would have liked.”
He continues to offer a window into his thought process during the offseason, explaining, “Then in the offseason I made a conscious effort to try to cut the ball more, and when I did that, I ruined a relationship that happens in my swing that makes it really difficult for me to control the face coming down. So now it's just kind of me learning from that. I know exactly why it happened. I know exactly what happens because I've gotten myself measured, and now it's just kind of a process of getting back to where I was. But at least I know I have all the data and the facts on the table to go about it.”
Hovland’s honesty about the psychological toll of his struggles adds a layer of depth to his narrative. “It's just not that fun to play golf when you don't know where the ball is going. I do pride myself in trying to make the best out of it, but it gets to a point where you kind of lose that belief – you just see a shot, and that's not good enough,” he admitted. “I can try to grind my hardest. I can try to chip in from there. But you do that too often, too many times during the course of a round or a tournament, [and] it's too much to overcome. I feel like it's a waste of time for me to be playing golf if that's where I'm at; I'd rather be off the golf course and work on it, trying to figure out why I'm doing those things.”
However, his outlook remains optimistic. Hovland sees this phase as part of a larger journey towards improvement and mastery of his craft. As he articulates it, “I'm not sure how long it's going to take for me to play my best golf. It might be this week. It might be next week. But at least now I'm on a path to progress. I'm on a path to improvement. Whereas before, one thing is playing bad, but you don't know why and you don't know how to fix it. That's very challenging mentally. But at least now we're – I might play terrible this week, but at least I feel like I'm on a path to improvement, and that's all that kind of matters for me.”
In summation, Viktor Hovland's 2023 season embodies the relentless pursuit of excellence in sport. While marked by remarkable successes and challenging lows, his transparency and dedication to improvement exemplify the spirit of competition. Fans and critics alike will be watching closely as he continues his ascent, both to overcome his recent challenges and to build on the promising glimpses of brilliance he has shown this year.