Viktor Hovland’s victory at the Valspar Championship only came as a shock due to how much the Norwegian has struggled over the last 18 months.
Viktor Hovland went into the Valspar Championship off the back of three missed cuts on the PGA Tour. He had opened his Players Championship campaign with an 80 in the opening round at TPC Sawgrass.
The 27-year-old appears to be really battling with his game right now – as shown by the fact that he was not entirely happy with his performance at Innisbrook, despite winning.
It is a far cry from the end of the 2023 season when there was a moment when Hovland was arguably the best player on planet. He won two FedEx Cup playoff events while he played a starring role in helping Europe win the Ryder Cup.
How Scottie Scheffler reacted when Viktor Hovland shot 61 to win the BMW Championship in 2023
The first of those wins came at the BMW Championship, with Hovland finishing two shots clear of Scottie Scheffler and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Fourth place Rory McIlroy finished five shots back of Hovland.
Scheffler was actually the overnight leader with the Englishman. And he probably would have been confident had he been told that he would post a 66 on Sunday.
However, Hovland shot 61 – just three other players posted a lower record than Scheffler. And speaking afterwards in comments reported by Sky Sports, the current world number one admitted that he was almost baffled by how the European had managed to secure the victory.
“It’s a pretty amazing round of golf to win this tournament like that,” Scheffler said of Hovland’s 61. “I still don’t understand how the scores were so low this week. This place seems pretty hard to me, but guys are just ripping it up. 61 is a fantastic round, especially with Sunday pressure,” he said.
“I’m just a bit frustrated. I think that would be the way to describe it. I mean, Viktor went out and really just beat me today and played a fantastic round. I can hold my head high – I did my best out there today and fought hard. Just ultimately came up a couple of shots short.”
Viktor Hovland had one more surprise in store for Scottie Scheffler at the Ryder Cup
Of course, that would not prove to be the final time in 2023 that Hovland managed to absolutely stun Scheffler.
The pair would write their names into history at the Ryder Cup, with Hovland and Ludvig Aberg beating Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7 on Saturday morning – the largest winning margin in an 18 hole match in Ryder Cup history.
And Hovland suggested afterwards that any pairing would struggle to compete with him and Aberg that day at Marco Simone.
“I don’t know, obviously we make a strong team. Regardless I think we could have met a lot of guys and we would have been tough to beat today. Obviously Scottie and Brooks weren’t on top of their game today and yeah, that’s how 9&7 came to be,” he said.
Certainly, with Bethpage just a few months away, European fans will now hope that victory at the Valspar proves to be the turning point Hovland desperately needs.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
