Eddie Pepperell has backed one European for a top five finish at this week’s PGA Championship despite claiming that he has one of the worst short games on tour.
The second major of the year is almost upon us, with the world’s best already in Kentucky finishing off their preparations for the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Of course, for many, the winner is likely to come from one of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka. Remarkably, all three won on their most recent starts. Meanwhile, Koepka is the defending champion, Scheffler won The Masters earlier this year, and Valhalla is the scene of McIlroy’s most recent major championship triumph.
It is almost going to be just as interesting to see which players can compete with those three this week, and Eddie Pepperell has tipped Viktor Hovland to be in contention – despite the Norwegian showing very little form since winning the FedEx Cup last year.
Viktor Hovland tipped to impress at PGA Championship
“My pick is pretty left-field this week, given what’s happening,” he told The Chipping Forecast podcast.
“I’m going to say three names, two of which which I think will do well, but aren’t my picks: Byeong An and Cameron Young, but the third, who is my pick, Viktor Hovland.
“He had a very good round on Sunday, I saw he went bogey-free, he hit the ball really well tee to green.
“Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t pick him to win because his short-game’s been dreadful, one of the worst on tour, but I just have a feeling, if the course rewards good ball-striking, I could see him being top five.”
Norwegian has potential to throw form book out the window
Hovland is definitely searching for something in his game right now, with the 26-year-old yet to finish in the top 10 on the PGA Tour this season.
It has confused many to see Hovland struggle given that he was so impressive in 2023; it seemed inevitable that he would take that next step and become a major champion before too long.
That could, of course, still happen. There have been plenty of instances when players have gone on to claim the big prizes when their previous form hinted that they had no right to.
Hovland is definitely one of those players who could do something special and upset the apple cart.
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