What Joe Mayo told Viktor Hovland about his short game in 2022 which left Xander Schauffele completely stunned

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If there has traditionally been an Achilles heel in the game of Viktor Hovland, it has surely been the short game, with the Norwegian arguably one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour over the last few years.

It has been apparent for some time that Viktor Hovland has the talent to win a raft of major titles during his career. He has already won six times on the PGA Tour, including The Memorial and the Tour Championship. Meanwhile, he was arguably the best player in the world around the time he helped Europe win the 2023 Ryder Cup.

But the last 12 months have not been easy for Hovland. He only registered two top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2024, while he has not won on tour since August 2023.

And when you look at Hovland’s strokes gained stats, there appears to be one clear weakness. He was inside the top 50 for strokes gained off the tee, approaching the green and putting. However, he was one of the worst players on tour around the greens.

The short game Viktor Hovland received which stunned Xander Schauffele

He fell nearly 100 spots in the rankings from 2023 to 2024. And what has perhaps not helped is the uncertainty surrounding his relationship with coach Joe Mayo. The pair split for a second time in recent months.

It does seem that Mayo had previously enjoyed a real breakthrough with Hovland’s short game. Speaking on No Laying Up, Mayo shared some of the misconceptions concerning Hovland’s game around the putting surface, as he also explained how a 2022 session with the 27-year-old once left Xander Schauffele stunned.

“I said, I do not accept this belief that you cannot chip. I said it’s nonsensical, silly to me. I said you could hit a four iron 240 yards at a flag, don’t tell me that you can’t chip a golf ball 10 yards. I don’t buy it, I don’t accept it,” he said.

“And the first picture I showed him was this, and you know Viktor’s got that wrist angle in his full swing, you know what I’m talking about, and the blade is pointed down at the ground halfway back on his chip shots. Well, that’s sacrilegious right there. That’s the antichrist, you can’t chip like that. God knows you got to twist that wrist open, you’ve got to open the face and expose the bounce, right guys? Bulls–t.

“I showed him three photographs of Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, all three happened to have what wrist angle? You got it, all three have that blade location halfway back. You got it, Jordan hit a low spinner, Brooks hit a medium shot, Dustin hit a high pitch. Same wrist angle, same club face. And he looked at me and said, ‘wow’. And I said, right. So we’re never having that conversation again.

“So we got past that bulls–t. Then I asked him, I said I want you to move slightly forward in your backswing, that’s going to move the low point forward, allow you to start hitting the ball instead of the ground. And guys, if I had a Bible, I’d put my hand on it now, in an hour, he had it. Xander Schauffele, if you ever talk to Xander and ask him – he probably doesn’t remember because it isn’t that important in his life – he’s in the bunker, and he’s watching this and he’s like, ‘wow, that’s f—–g good. That s–t’s good’.”

A slightly concerning start to 2025 for Hovland

The concern for Hovland will be that there are not too many signs that his slump is going to end anytime soon. He finished in a tie for 36th at The Sentry, while he then missed the cut at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.

But clearly, the talent is there. He finished third at the PGA Championship, while he was second at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last year. So there have been some reasons for optimism.

It is too soon to draw too many conclusions from his start to 2025 given that he spent a long time on the sidelines late last year. But the good news is that Hovland has the evidence which shows that he knows what he needs to do to get back to where he belongs.