Tag: Joe Mayo

Viktor Hovland, who admitted he considered withdrawing from 2024 PGA Championship, has legit chance to win first major

“Dammit, I shouldn’t have said that,” he said.

LOUSIVILLE, Ky. – Viktor Hovland is in the thick of the trophy chase heading into the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship despite saying he felt so lost with his game that he nearly withdrew from the PGA’s flagship event.

After shooting his second straight 5-under 66 at Valhalla Golf Club on Saturday, the reigning FedEx Cup champion was asked by Sirius XM Radio’s Jason Sobel if he asked him three days earlier that he’d have a chance on Saturday, what would he say?

“I would’ve taken that immediately,” Hovland said. “I was almost considering pulling out of this event because I wasn’t playing good.”

Dogged reporter that he is Sobel asked the follow up that needed to be asked: How close did Hovland come to not playing?

“Things didn’t feel very good and when they don’t feel good, it’s like what’s the point of playing? I’d rather go work on that,” he said.

Sobel pushed on, asking when he made the decision to play.

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“Dammit, I shouldn’t have said that,” Hovland said. “It was just when you’re playing bad and thoughts are racing and that’s just what you’re thinking. Obviously, I didn’t make that decision. In the moment when you’re playing bad you just want to go home, you know?”

Don’t we all. But Hovland was the hottest player in the world late last year, winning back-to-back FedEx Cup events to claim the season-long trophy and then starred for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup.

But in his pursuit of perfection and hitting the ball flush, he parted ways with swing coach Joe Mayo and took a detour down a rabbit hole with multiple swing coaches. He’s spent the last several months lost in the wilderness. While seeking to improve his swing, his vastly improved short game regressed and he ranks No. 186 in Strokes Gained: Around the Green this season. Hovland was so disappointed with his game after shooting a second-round 81 to miss the cut at the Masters that he skipped the RBC Heritage, a no-cut Signature event to work on his game. (He also withdrew from the WM Phoenix Open after being dissatisfied with his play at the Genesis Invitational in February.)

Hovland confirmed earlier this week that he reunited with Mayo and their limited time together has paid quick dividends.

2024 PGA Championship
Viktor Hovland reacts after a putt on the seventh green during the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)

Hovland didn’t mention that he had considered skipping the PGA, the second major of the season, when he answered questions from the media in his post-round new conference. But when asked if he was surprised to be in contention, he said, “I’m surprised in the sense that — just how far away I felt last week. But I’m not surprised in the way that I’m here because, like, I never doubted my abilities. It was just kind of my machinery was not working very well.

“But as soon as I get the machine kind of somewhere on track, I can play. Like there’s nothing wrong with me mentally or –  like I never doubted I couldn’t play golf anymore. It’s just like the technique was not good enough to compete. But now we’re moving in the right direction.”

Better than that, at least in the opinion of Mayo, who posted on Instagram three words that said it all: “I am pleased.”

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Viktor Hovland confirms reuniting with swing coach Joe Mayo, opens with 68 at 2024 PGA Championship

Hovland and May had parted ways at the start of the year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Viktor Hovland has changed coaches yet again. Only this time he’s returned to a familiar face in Joe Mayo.

“Just reached out and was wondering if he could take a look at my golf swing, and let’s get back to work,” Hovland said after posting 3-under 68 in the opening round of the 106th PGA Championship on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club.

Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, parted ways with Mayo at the start of the year and worked with noted instructors Grant Waite and Dana Dahlquist this season. Hovland explained these moves in March as searching for that perfect flushed iron shot he cherishes.

“I’m a very curious guy. I like to ask questions,” Hovland said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “Sometimes when you ask a question and you get some answers, that leads you down a different path and opens up some new questions and you pursue a different path. I just want to kind of see where it goes. I always like to improve and expand my knowledge.”

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But his play so far this season have been a huge step backwards. The stats don’t lie. In Strokes Gained: tee to green, he tumbled from fourth last season to 122nd and his short game, which had improved under Mayo, slipped from the positive side (+.060) and No. 86 to the negative and No. 186 (-.74) in SG: Around the Green. Hovland, who is No. 89 in the FedEx Cup this season, has just one top-20 finish – a T-19 at the Genesis Invitational – and missed the cut at the Masters after rounds of 71 and 81.

In a terrific story from Kevin Van Valkenberg of No Laying Up, Mayo reflected on his breakup with Hovland.

“I admit that I have a very strong personality,” Mayo said. “I am hard to take in large doses. That’s one of my many many flaws in life. I realize being around me (for) a year full time, like we were, is probably pretty tough. Without question, I know I am hard to handle for a long period of time. When he said he wanted to do it on his own, I was relieved.”

2024 PGA Championship
Viktor Hovland prepares to tee off on the 12th hole during the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

In comparing himself to what it must be like to play for former Indiana men’s basketball coach Bobby Knight, Mayo said, “It’s something I’ve struggled with my entire life. I’ve been this way since I was a young man. We’ve all got flaws, nobody is perfect. People who know me will tell you ‘Joe is intense, Joe is tough, Joe is hard to handle.’ I guess what I’m trying to say is this: If I had to be honest, if you threatened me with going to prison if I wasn’t honest with you, then I’d say my personality was probably part of Viktor wanting to do it on his own. I admit that. I admit that my strong personality is a turnoff to some people at some point in time. I’m taking the blame, if you will. I’m man enough to admit that, man enough to sack up and say being around me for a year was probably a lot to handle.”

But Hovland confirmed after the first round of the PGA Championship that he phone Mayo last week and they resumed working together.

“He knows my swing really well. He’s really, really smart, and just has a way of looking at my swing and kind of knowing what it is right away,” Hovland said. “Felt like I got some really good answers, was able to apply some of the feels right away, and I saw improvement right away. Yeah, it’s easy to keep going then.”

New swing coach, new patterns, same pursuit of flushing it: Inside the ‘insane part’ of Viktor Hovland’s brain

“It’s been a little bit frustrating so far this year.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — Six months after Viktor Hovland won the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup and a bundle of cash, he fired one coach, hired another and set off in pursuit of flushing his irons with the consistency and precision he “cherishes.”

“It’s been a little bit frustrating so far this year,” said Hovland, who has yet to record a top-10 finish in three starts this season, speaking at his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “Feel like my swing hasn’t been quite as good as it has been in previous years, so it’s been, felt like I’ve tried to prioritize just being home and practicing, putting a lot of work in. Don’t really want to fight through something while playing, it’s just not that fun, and I don’t see the point of it.”

That explains why Hovland withdrew from the WM Phoenix Open after finishing T-58 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was reduced to 54 holes in February.

What’s harder to explain is his musical chairs among instructors – from Jeff Smith to Joe Mayo and now taking his tips from former Tour pro Grant Waite.

“I’m a very curious guy. I like to ask questions,” Hovland said. “Sometimes when you ask a question and you get some answers, that leads you down a different path and opens up some new questions and you pursue a different path. I just want to kind of see where it goes. I always like to improve and expand my knowledge, and it just happened to lead me down to Grant Waite.”

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Hovland is 26 years old and the  winner of six Tour titles. He first played the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in 2020 after winning the U.S. Amateur. He’s finished tied for second and tied for 10th the last two seasons. When asked to describe what has been off with his game, he said, “It’s just the mechanics of the swing. Just haven’t been able to hit the shots that I want to.”

And that matters to Hovland almost as much as his score.

“I guess that’s kind of the insane part of my brain is that I just enjoy flushing a golf shot,” he said. “Obviously, we’re out here to compete and win tournaments, but I really just cherish being able to hit the shots exactly the way I want to. I think it’s a better predictor of how you’re going to play in the future.”

Hovland finished the 2022-23 season, during which he also won in May at the Memorial, with back-to-back wins at the BMW Championship, where he shot a final-round 61, and at the Tour Championship, and followed with a starring role in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory. So, parting ways with Mayo, who he credits with helping him improve his short game, made for an odd decision (not that his ball striking had many holes when he departed Smith for Mayo). Hovland clearly isn’t a proponent of the old saying that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“When you’re seeing a shot and your swing is not producing those shots, it becomes very tough to compete, especially at this level,” Hovland said, noting that he had been playing defensive golf instead of swinging with confidence. So, he’s spent countless hours reviewing old swings, especially from 2019 when he first turned pro as well as early 2021, which he tabbed as when he was swinging it best.

2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Viktor Hovland of Norway talks with Luke Donald of England during the pro-am ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 06, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

“Kind of seeing the evolution of my swing. It’s very interesting,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of multiple different patterns.”

Hovland’s swing may remain a work-in-progress — “I’m just pressuring the ground a little bit differently,” he explained matter-of-factly — but his accurate driving and mid-iron excellence is why he’s usually in the hunt at Arnie’s Place. The question remains: Will he have enough confidence to make the shots he’s capable of in crunch time?

“If I can stand on the range or on a golf course, see a shot and execute that shot, that gives me confidence,” he said. “The most important thing is that you see the shots that you’re hitting and you have belief that you’re going to do that repeatedly.”