The best part of Viktor Hovland’s Monday-morning extra-time victory at the Travelers Championship? It’s tough to pick just one — so here are five instead.
1. His mom was there.
One particularly special spectator took in Hovland’s Monday-morning win from behind the 18th green: his mother Galina. While Hovland’s win was his eighth on Tour, it was the first time he’s had a parent present.
“I won a few times now over the world, but never had my mom or dad watch me win one. So that was really cool to have her here,” Hovland said post-round. Even better: now he’s headed home for at least a week pre-Open.
“We get to go home together to Norway later today, so, yeah, couldn’t be a better way to win a golf tournament and celebrate going home.”
2. The rest of Norway was there, too.
Norway’s World Cup team played in New Jersey early last week. They played in Boston at the end of the week. What’s halfway between New Jersey and Boston? That’s right, folks: TPC River Highlands.
The result was a distinctly different type of red, white and blue-flavored fan than we’re used to at Tour events; Norwegian flags were everywhere. The effect was awesome. I can’t remember anything quite like it at a Tour event, with two groups of fans rooting fervently for opposing sides in such wholesome fashion. Hovland felt it, too — it hardly seems like a coincidence that their arrival brought his best tournament in years.
“But I thought it was super exciting. The crowds were super respectful and it just really motivated me to play better,” Hovland said. “Obviously with some Norwegian jerseys out there it brought the vibes, and I think the American crowds, I thought that was cool as well. I thought it made the event a lot more enjoyable. So, yeah, it was just a blast to play at a great golf tournament, a great golf course, in front of great fans. It was an absolute blast.”
3. It was over Scottie Scheffler.
Hovland admitted that, yeah, it does mean a little something extra to win in this fashion, over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. (That it came via a short Scheffler miss didn’t much seem to matter.)
“You always want to try to beat the best. What he’s been doing the last few years is just super impressive, and I have so much respect for him and his game. To go up against him and have a chance to beat him, I think it’s just super exciting,” Hovland said.
He also joins an interesting group: the players to win in Scheffler’s four runner-up finishes this season. Rory McIlroy edged him out at the Masters, Matt Fitzpatrick beat him in a playoff at the RBC Heritage, Cameron Young opened a gap at the Cadillac Championship and now Hovland beat him in another playoff. Considering those other three are Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the world, Hovland’s in good company.
4. He conquered — for now — his greatest fear.
Hovland was insightful explaining what he’s been chasing in his four-, five- or six-hour range sessions. Sure, he’s hunting the best shots possible. But he’s probably even more focused on eliminating The Big Miss.
“Some of the shots that I’ve seen are just like, Whoa, how is that even possible? Like, I’ve never seen some of those shots before,” Hovland said. Even when he’s been playing good golf, he admitted, the possibility of a big miss lurks in the back of his mind.
“Even U.S. Open last week, I thought I drove it a lot better, but I had one big miss on the 12th hole out there in the left-to-right wind that went OB, so I had one bad shot that cost me two shots for the tournament and I missed the cut by a shot,” he said. “This week I just kind of went to work and felt comfortable.”
Hovland was particularly pleased with his driver, which was a weakness early in the season; he led the Travelers field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. That gave him confidence playing No. 18 Monday morning.
“In the practice rounds and even in the tournament rounds, on 18, I’ve absolutely hammered it every single day. Even the drive yesterday and today, just straight down the middle,” he said. “You don’t have to hope or steer it or guide it out there, you just swing and know that it’s going to go straight down the middle. That’s something that I’ve been missing for a long time.”
5. He proved something to himself.
When Hovland won last year’s Valspar Championship it didn’t seem to fill the gap in his golfing confidence; he left the tournament talking about how he still thought his swing was “still not great.”
This time, though? It sounds like he’ll allow himself some satisfaction in beating the best players in the world.
“At the end of the day I just proved a lot to myself that I have got the game now,” Hovland said. “I really made some big strides in just the way I’ve driven it all week, that’s been kind of one of the weaknesses this year. This week I drove it amazing. I did a lot of good stuff the whole week. I just want to continue that trend. Whether I win or lose or whatever, I just want to play good golf and have fun out here again.”
