Shots, not Swings

Can Hovland keep it simple and win again?

Viktor Hovland woke up this morning in an unusual position for him of late: tied for the lead going into the final round of a PGA Tour event.

Tied with Nico Echavarria and Jacob Bridgeman at seven under par with 18 holes left in the Valspar Championship, Hovland was last in this spot at the 2023 Tour Championship. He went on to win that title (and the FedEx Cup). Hovland was 25 years old, had six PGA Tour victories, and was a force in golf.

Until his strong showing this week in Palm Harbor, Fla., at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course, Hovland hasn’t much resembled the fellow who walked away from East Lake Golf Club that bountiful Sunday in Georgia with a pile of money and a burgeoning reputation.

Hovland, a 27-year-old Norwegian who was the first from his country to win on the PGA Tour, has been struggling. He came to the Valspar having missed three straight cuts. Over the last couple of years, he has sought instruction from multiple coaches and recently returned to Grant Waite for guidance as he tries to recover from golf’s wilderness.

Even conceding that Hovland is an analytical golfer, during his down period he has seemed to epitomize someone who has succumbed to “paralysis by analysis.” Golf history is littered with players who traveled down too many instruction roads after achieving success, who in their search for better lost what had been just fine. A desire to improve is essential for elite athletes, but it can be overdone. In today’s tech-rich environment, numbers can overwhelm instinct if someone’s not careful.

Today’s final round won’t be easy for Hovland. Not only has it been a while, but 13 golfers are within three strokes of the tri-leaders through 54 holes. Even in beautiful weather, the Copperhead course is a challenge.

Tour golfers aren’t much like the rest of us when it comes to how the game is played, but in considering Hovland’s situation I’ve been thinking about a handwritten note I received two decades ago.

I’d gotten to play in a Champions Tour pro-am. My pro was the late Lonnie Nielsen. He was a Midwesterner birth but settled in western New York state. Nielsen played the PGA Tour for a handful of years without much luck as a young man but had tons of success later competing as a club pro. He made it onto the senior circuit and won twice. Good guy, good player.

In my pairing with Nielsen, I struggled with an array of sprayed shots. He was patient and helpful. With all the pro-ams that he had been a part of, I’m sure he’d seen worse. But I wasn’t very good that day.

A couple of weeks after our round, I received a note from him. It contained the usual pleasantries but also contained a P.S. “Think golf shot, not golf swing.” Lonnie drew a smiley face next to his thank-you card lesson.

Those would be good words for Hovland to play by this afternoon.