How Viktor Hovland became one of golf’s brightest young stars

NewsTimeMedia November 29, 2023
DP World Tour Championship - Day Three
Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Viktor Hovland has it all — except for a major title

Guacamole might be the most basic indicator of Viktor Hovland’s ascension into golf stardom. Chipotle guacamole, to be specific.

After turning pro out of Oklahoma State, the former U.S. Amateur champion showed restraint for his budget by saying no to avocado. After winning the FedEx Cup at the end of last summer, staking his claim as king of the 2023 PGA Tour season, Hovland walked around storied East Lake Country Club smiling and eating a victory meal of Chipotle chips and guacamole. Life changed rapidly for the guy who went from passing on guac to becoming playing partners with Chipotle’s CEO at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

But guacamole gains are only a small part of Hovland’s transformative season – a dream stretch of golf that included three marquee victories and a PGA Tour prize money record of $34.5 million in one season.

Already one of golf’s brightest young talents entering 2023, the 26-year-old Norwegian elevated to superstar status over the last 12 months. Earning international acclaim and generational wealth over only a few months, Hovland’s maintained his status as a Tour favorite by keeping a laid back demeanor in the midst of a chaotic year for the sport.

And Hovland’s meteoric rise could continue if he can close an elusive major championship in 2024.

The golf evolution of Viktor Hovland saw him make every cut and win four events over the last year – including three of the PGA Tour’s newly-minted Elevated events. Hovland kicked off the stretch with his win at the Hero World Challenge late last year, making it back-to-back victories at the Tiger Woods-hosted gathering.

Despite the win amongst a star-filled field, Hovland still had something to prove. Even after multiple PGA Tour wins, and winning twice more at the Hero World Challenge, Hovland was winless in the continental United States as a professional, earning a unique reputation as a resort course specialist.

There were also concerns about Hovland’s shaky short game. Nothing was particularly problematic about the other parts of Hovland’s game. Finishing No. 191 in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green during 2022, however, was a major red flag for a player who wanted to consistently finish in the upper echelon.

Lessons with new coach Joseph Mayo had an instant impact on Hovland’s short-game confidence. Seeing results almost overnight, Hovland started to contend in some of the most difficult events on Tour, including top-10 finishes at the Players Championship, Masters and PGA Championship. By the end of the season, Hovland went up almost 100 spots to No. 93 in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, a major catalyst to a breakthrough campaign.

Doubts of Hovland’s ability to win on the mainland were emphatically erased over the summer. Hovland claimed The Memorial after an epic duel with Denny McCarthy, winning another icon’s event and shaking hands with Jack Nicklaus on the 18th green. The climb up the golf world for Hovland peaked with a blistering late-summer stretch with back-to-back playoff wins at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship to close the Tour’s 2023 season.

A stellar Ryder Cup performance for the winning European team in Rome a month later only cemented Hovland’s reputation as an elite international assassin. High-floor consistency coupled with regularly winning high-profile events vaulted Hovland into the No. 4 player in the world rankings.

In the midst of Hovland’s outstanding season, pro golf churned through a self-inflicted identity crisis. The sport exploded with new prize money, a popular reality show, and the ongoing PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf feud. Those factors all fueled a massive wave of egos and individual selfishness. Some of Hovland’s contemporaries revealed themselves as spoiled, out of touch and, in some cases, downright greedy. The sport’s future continues to go through a tumultuous time. Attempted power plays and passive-aggressive pouting over things like hats at the Ryder Cup permeated golf’s 2023 headlines.

Through all of the public off-course drama, Hovland is one of the stars to stay away from the mess. A neutral Hovland has avoided public comments shooting himself in the foot by not playing one particular side over the other. Since acquiring newfound fame and fortune, Hovland has seemingly maintained his regular life in Stillwater, Oklahoma and let the pro golf world burn around him.

A breath of fresh air away from the constant off-course drama, Hovland seems to love being around the game. The day after winning The Memorial – and its $3.6 million first prize – Hovland was on the bag for former Oklahoma State teammate Zach Bauchou as the duo traversed 36 holes in one day attempting to earn Bauchou entry into a U.S. Open Hovland was already qualified for.

There’s also distinctive attributes Hovland brings to a world of golf that can be plenty bland and homogenous. A parade of unique and colorful clothes – Oklahoma State Orange being firmly in the mix – leads to plenty of Hovland-related attire memes. There’s a small subsection of Tour fans who believe Hovland might be constantly stoned because of a past Stephen A. Smith reference, his constant smile and relaxed manner.

Global recognition has also revealed fun civic pride emanating from Norway as local commentary has gone viral for its euphoric broadcasts of Hovland’s best moments. And he’s also the predominant true metalhead on Tour – despite the expected disparaging remarks that come from trying to introduce Metalcore to the country club crowd.

The one thing still missing from Hovland’s resume after last year is a major championship. For Hovland to properly enter the next stratosphere of sports, a major is the one piece of hardware that would gain him crossover recognition.

There have been some recent close calls in final groups on Sundays. With three top-five finishes over the last five majors, Hovland has already threatened leaderboards multiple times. He’s also consistently been in the top 40 of nearly every major this decade – unless he has to withdraw after getting sand in his eye.

The next chapter of Hovland’s story will be one of the most intriguing golf subplots of 2024. It’ll be hard to top a 2023 journey that featured record-breaking prize money, a Tour Championship and breaking through as an elite global force who can now afford guac. But Norwegian commentary breaking into celebratory tears over a fellow countryman winning a major while wearing pink pants is a distinct possibility that only this silly game can dream of.

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