Viktor Hovland had a shortcoming. As soon as they first worked together at the beginning of this year, his coach, Joseph Mayo, who teaches at The Summit Club for Discovery Land Company in Las Vegas, recognized it.
“I’m seeing this kid hit the ball where Harry Houdini couldn’t lift and lower it. Your strategy is too aggressive, I remarked.” Mayo reported by phone after Hovland won the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday by defeating Denny McCarthy with a par on the first hole of a playoff.
“But at the moment, I was unable to measure it. He might already have three victories this year, so I wish I had. Edoardo Molinari, a player on the DP World Tour and a statistician, was essential for that.” Mayo added.
Hovland was, in a word, disorganized. Impetuous and Reckless.
Observing him you would never have known this on Sunday when he overcame a four-shot deficit on the back nine thanks in large part to his one and only birdie of the day on hole 17. You wouldn’t know it either from the fact that he played on a major championship-hard, baked-out Muirfield Village all week without making a worse-than-bogey shot.
He hit crucial par putts on 18, first from 5 1/2 feet during regulation to get to 7 under and put pressure on leader McCarthy, then from just under 7 feet during the playoff to secure the victory.
That weakness existed in Hovland, though, and not all that long ago. Sitting next to tournament director Jack Nicklaus after winning the Memorial, he chuckled as he spoke of Mayo being in agonizing pain” while watching him play.
Mayo believes that our strategy or method of course navigation needs improvement. And at that point, he contacted Edoardo Molinari, who handles my statistics. Basically, they just crunched some figures and discovered that the statistics essentially painted the same picture.
So yeah, a slightly different approach, and specifically pitching wedge to 8-irons is where I’m much more cautious, especially at a golf course like this where the greens get really hard and fast and you put the pins on the edges; you just can’t afford to go for them.
When Molinari ran the figures, he discovered startling but also incredibly useful information.
“A brilliant iron player, according to Dodo, short-sides himself 15% of the time. That was doubled by Viktor. That cannot be escaped. I gave him the information, and he said, “Wow.” Mayo stated.
Hovland, 25, could clearly see what Mayo had now been able to measure. beating himself up, he said. So began the Norwegian uber-talent’s quick development after he won on Sunday for the first time on the territory of the United States. His fourth PGA TOUR victory elevated him to fourth place in the FedExCup standings.
“This isn’t a birdie competition. It’s a race to avoid making two bogeys. You could outhit those players at Oklahoma State, but you won’t be able to outhit Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm. Start learning to outsmart them just as if you’re playing chess.” Mayo said.
“One stroke is damaged by a bogey. However, how you respond to it could lose you several chances,” he added.
Hovland 2.0 did not materialize overnight, to be sure. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in March, he scored a final-round 75 to place T10.
“He forfeited that competition,” Mayo said.
But it was soon apparent that Hovland was moving closer to something. He placed T2 at the PGA Championship, T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship, and T7 at the Masters Tournament.
He wasn’t merely revising his plan of action. Hovland, who was well known for his ball-striking and particularly his drive, was also giving his short game under Mayo a thorough examination. This was also yielding benefits. When asked if his previous self could have won the Memorial, Hovland responded in the negative.
“The brief game I have now wasn’t available to me before, when I did find myself on the downslope and had to spin the ball or slow it down, I was unable to do it,” he said.
As a result, he suffered what he described as “a double whammy” which is aiming for pins he couldn’t resist, short-siding himself more than twice as often as the top players and being helpless to stop it.
“This week, though. I advised myself to play for the fatter section of the green when I was out of position because if I missed it, I still had a chance to roll the ball up or slow it down just enough to get it close to the pin. I was aware that there would be some competition to avoid double bogeys and other costly errors.” he said.
Shay Knight, his caddy, has undergone a significant change.
“He has a long history of excellent play. When he eventually played well on a Sunday at the PGA, it greatly boosted his confidence going ahead. It was evident today.” Knight said.
“Just keep battling and fighting within yourself, and occasionally things work out like they did today, especially if the Harry Houdini act is left at home,” Hovland added.
