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Tour Championship

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The Journey of Viktor Hovland in 2023

Viktor Hovland joined the PGA Tour in 2019 after an outstanding amateur career that included the 2018 U.S. Amateur title. He made millions of dollars right away and won twice on the Tour but wasn’t satisfied.

Hovland identified the two weaknesses in his game - strategy and short game - and addressed them. He hired European Tour player Edoardo Molinari to refine course management, a move that helped produce top-10 finishes in three of the last five majors.

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​The other, more noticeable, change came with the help of his swing instructor Joe Mayo. He learned how to hit pitch shots. Now he’s the FedEx champion.

Hovland struggled with pitching, especially off tight lies, when he came on Tour, in part because of a shut face and shallow angle of attack.

Rather than change his motion, Mayo incorporated it into a new approach.

It worked. Hovland was 191st in Strokes Gained: Around the Green in the 2021-22 season. He was 170th entering the PGA Championship.

He finished runner-up at the PGA and has won three times against elite fields since. His SG: Around the Green rank in that span? 20th.

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To create the optimal pitching technique, Mayo had Hovland practice hitting 15-yard shots with a 28-30 degree launch angle, trying to create at least a 10 degree angle of attack and a minimum of 5,000 rpms of spin.

The angle of attack - which some might consider steep but Mayo debunks - creates a low point in front of the ball, promoting clean contact.

“Bad pitchers learn to be bad because the low point is too far back. They’re trying to say hello to the ground but they say it too soon or incorrectly and the ground doesn’t say hello back,” Mayo said in a video on his Patreon site, which is accessible via a donation that he contributes to charity.

Mayo wanted Hovland to generate spin loft, which is the difference between the loft of the club at impact and the direction of the clubhead. He’s explaining why it’s so important in a short game series currently unfolding on his Patreon.

Hovland gained confidence in the method, which defies conventional wisdom and now seems poised to become the No. 1 player in the world sometime soon. Mayo has always been an outside-the-box thinker in golf instruction and he and Hovland have a strong player / coach relationship.

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This excerpt from an excellent piece on PGATour.com gives a closer look at Hovland’s approach to golf, and life.
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Hovland embodies the growth mindset that researcher Carol Dweck brought into the mainstream.

A person with such an outlook sees every situation, even negative ones, as an opportunity to learn and improve.

It’s given him peace regardless of the result.

“I think that’s been really cool, to just try to learn from any experience,” he said. “What happened? What went wrong? What can I learn from it? I feel like I’ve used those opportunities to just get better the next time around.”

🎥 FROM THE ARCHIVE: Talking with Viktor about his prep and mindset heading into the Us Open

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🛠️ FIELD EXPERIMENT : Double Bogey Deterrent

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Set up

• 2 golf balls
• Go to wedge

The Game:

• Set up short sided and flop shot "holes".
• Hit both golf balls with your go to wedge.
• Your target is to get both balls within 10 paces or 30 feet on every shot.

Scoring

• Play the game until you get both shots within 10 paces, 6 times in a row.
• Scale for skill level
  • EASIER
    • Play with three golf balls and target getting 2/3 within 10 paces.
    • Play the game until you accomplish 4 situations successfully up and down in a row.
  • HARDER
    • Play with 3 golf balls and get 6 situations in a row up and down.
    • Play with 3 golf balls and only consider it a success if you get one ball inside 4 feet and 2 within 30 feet.

The Why: Strategy

We need to cut down on double bogeys. Too many times we try to take on too aggressive of shots and end up creating double bogey situations.

If you can chip it within 30 feet you can assume you'll get close to making a bogey as 30 feet is a little over 2 strokes on average. (2.29 strokes gained for 10 handicap / 2.14 SG for 0 handicap)

Reflection:

• Did you have to change you typical landing spots and shot shape from what you normally would?
• What do you need to change mindset or strategy wise next time you play?

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Till next time!

-Cordie
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✍️ Written By: Brian Mull and Cordie Walker.
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Disclosure: Some things in this newsletter may be a sponsored post or Golf Science Lab may be getting a small commission if you sign up / fill out their form or Golf Science Lab might own a percent of the business. In particular, but not always, those sponsored or commissioned or owned posts or might have an * in it the subject headline.

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