Viktor Hovland is well in contention to win the PGA Championship today but things could have been a whole lot different after he made a big admission.
The Norwegian has been woefully out of form in the last six months but has roared back into contention at Valhalla to sit just two shots off the lead ahead of final round Sunday.
The leader, Xander Schauffele, has failed to pull away despite having a lead over the first three days and he’s now level on -15 with Colin Morikawa, with Hovland among a cluster of players chasing.
However, judging by Hovland’s post-third-round interview yesterday, the Ryder Cup winner might not even have had the chance to compete.
Viktor Hovland accidentally shares why he nearly didn’t even turn up for the PGA Championship
Speaking to Jason Sobel after his third round yesterday, Hovland let something slip he didn’t mean to.
“Yeah I would have taken that immediately,” Hovland said when asked how he felt about being in contention ahead of the final round.
“I mean, I almost considered pulling out of this event because I wasn’t playing good at all. Putting it into perspective like that, it’s huge.
“I just thought that things didn’t feel very good and when things don’t feel good I kind of think what’s the point in playing and I’ll go and work on it. But yeah, we’re here now.
“Dammit…I shouldn’t have said that. Just when you’re playing bad and thoughts are racing that’s what I’m thinking. Obviously I didn’t make the decision in the end and decided to come and play instead. I think it’s just in the moment when you’re playing bad, you just want to go home, you know?”.
The best decision of Hovland’s career?
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It’s quite something that simply playing poorly can make even the best golfers in the world consider not playing in a major, but here we are.
However, Hovland has shown exactly why he is among the best in the world and he’s in with a big shout of landing his first major championship.
Two shots is nothing really and he’ll hope to score well on the opening few holes so that Schauffele and Morikawa know he’s in their wing mirrors when they tee off.
Out of all the players chasing, you do get the impression Hovland has both the momentum and the back-story behind him to make this a memorable win.
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