Prior to the 2024 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, reigning FedExCup champion and defending Memorial champion Viktor Hovland discusses his win at Muirfield Village Golf Club last year, the changes made to No. 16, the upcoming Olympics, how special it was to win at Jack Nickalus’ course and how he has changed as a player since turning pro.
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all right we’ll get started we’d like to welcome defending Champion Victor havin into the interview room here at the Memorial tournament presented by workday Victor looking back at last year this was the first of three wins for you that culminated with the FedEx Cup title um what do you remember about that week and how much did it mean to you um for the rest of the season yeah I remember that that back knot was pretty cool last year um and just kind of how what stands out to me as how I played 16 17 18 last year um and um just I recently watched it back a couple of days ago and um I think at one point during the third round I was maybe seven shots back and um yeah that was just a really cool kind of not a lesson but just kind of reemphasizing the point that um you know especially at a hard Golf Course like this you’re you’re never you never you never know you shouldn’t um not give up but um you you still have a chance if you finish strong or you get on a heater or something like that so so um that was just cool to watch and then most recently we saw you at the PJ Championship um what are you taking away from that performance and uh into of this week yeah super proud about that week um after uh not playing very good golf the the first few months of the year it was nice to turn something around and um what was really cool to see was as soon as I found a shot that I knew where the ball was going and I could get my myself around the golf course I was was immediately Up In Contention so um that was that was really cool to see that it wasn’t going to be a a project that was going to take two three months it was uh a nice little feel that got me to hit the ball better immediately all right we’ll take some questions out here if you have a question we’ll get a microphone to you we’ll start with Paul Victor the form that you found at PJ have you found that to be repeatable now that you’ve gone home and and practiced as you prepare for this I’ve kept working on kind of the same stuff uh last couple weeks it was nice to have some good weather at home and and uh just kept playing a lot practicing and uh felt like game’s getting better every single day which is uh which is great so coming in with um um yeah some confidence and knowing that I can start the ball left and and and fade it as you’ve now started working with Joe again does the relationship feel like it did last year when you’re working is it different is it improved how has that kind of changed now that you know back working with him yeah feels feels the same um talking about the same stuff and working on the uh along the same lines and um we’re getting some good work done and pretty pretty pumped to to play the rest of the summer and does it help coming back to an event like this where you have the success last year when maybe it hasn’t gone well this year but you bring back some good memories when you step on the grounds sure that helps but this uh this golf course doesn’t care about your memories or Good Vibes it’s going to punish you and and uh bring you down if you uh miss it on the wrong sides it’s just uh it’s just I think it’s one of the hardest courses we play all year so you definitely have to bring your aame whether you’re defending Champion or not we got one in the middle and then we’ll go to MK have you had a chance to get back and see 16 yet this week played nine holes yesterday so I got to see it it um yeah definitely looks different um little wider on the right side it looked like they flattened it out took away the front right bunker made the uh the right bunker a little bit bigger but it’s it’s pretty deep so even though it’s you’re going to see a lot of guys in that right bunker I think for the back right pin that’s a very tough bunker shot and obviously all the right pins are going to be pretty tough but um um yeah it’s still it’s still a hard hole but at least now it feels like with the angle you can hit a good shot and kind of uh run it around there on the green so I think it’s good do you know where you stand in terms of playing in the Olympics uh looks like you’re in good position to qualify um you have you made any decisions related to that yeah I’m planning on playing yeah um how excited are you for that opportunity it’s of course a different type of competition yeah I’m pretty pumped um playing in the Olympics in Tokyo was pretty fun even though it was during Co and no fans out there and it felt felt a little bit weird um but we at least got to stay in the Olympic Village and get a part of the experience so that was that was was fun and I’m I’m pretty pumped to do it again I’ve never been to uh golf National which they’re playing it at uh Heard lots of good stuff about the golf course and obviously watching the rer cup there um a few years ago looks like a great spot and um yeah hoping for uh some some hardware for team Norway go to MK hey Victor a couple of questions for you you talked about watching your Victory here last year how often do you watch your wins not very often um sometimes I do uh if I’m bored or like the last couple months I’ve definitely looked at some stuff but more more for just swing wise like I’ll screen record on my phone if I see a good angle on on TV and just look at oh that looks like I was doing this more or whatever it might be um so I have a a pretty big catalog of just golf swings uh from last Year from 2020 2021 so it’s just kind of nice to have that stor on my phone but um um yeah occasionally it’s nice to kind of relive some of those moments and then last year of course you walked off of 18 and you got to shake hands with Mr Nicholas what was that how special was that moment for you yeah it’s pretty cool obviously coming here for a couple years I’ve gotten to to see Jack and uh seeing him other places as well so it wasn’t like it was the first time I met him but um yeah being around a guy like that who’s accomplished so much and um you know he’s uh that’s pretty cool and to to win his tournament here in Columbus it’s uh it’s pretty special Victor you’ve talked about your work with dodo and kind of the stats aspect of it I’m just wondering I know he’s he helped you you know saw you were shorts signing yourself too much or something like that I’m just wondering how often you get on the course and it’s difficult to say I can go attack that pin or like have an intuition that maybe goes against what the data is saying and how kind of you manage that you know when you’re on on a course and you feel like no I can I can fit that in there I can do this when maybe the data would suggest something else yeah I I think the data is mostly there to to help you and for let’s call it maybe 90% of decisions it’s very clearcut it’s okay hit driver it’s you can go for this pen or it’s middle the green here whatever it might be and the decisions where it’s in between and it’s not so clear-cut that’s when I kind of rely on okay what’s the situation at hand do I need a birdie do I need a par do I need to play offensive or or defense um and uh yeah or sometimes you just feel like you’re going to hit a good shot and sometimes that is kind of enough to to override the data a little bit so um but obviously I try to to make the best decisions possible um especially I think at a golf course like this you you definitely are going to get punished if you get a little greedy and and go outside of what the right play is you can kind of get away on on um easier golf courses and we’ll take our last one from Matt in the back Victor you’ve always been one to Tinker a little bit with the swing in the game I’m just wondering if the experience over the last couple of months and the success that you found going back to Joe maybe lends you to be a little bit more patient with yourself that’s probably a good observation and good lesson that I’ve drawn from the past few months um but I also think like looking back I’ve given this some thought um I’m I’m a completely different player than I was when I first came out here and every single thing that I’ve done since turning pro has led me to become a better player um like I got a longer driver I fastened my back swing I got a little bit stronger in the gym I started doing aim point on greens uh whatever it might be like every single thing that I’ve done has helped me to play better golf um so I I don’t think I need to comp completely throw the baby out with a bath water but um definitely have to make maybe spend a little bit more time and and make sure that if I’m going to go in a different direction it’s maybe a little bit more planned out or uh need more data supporting um that decision but um yeah probably I mean the the classic saying if it if it ain’t broke don’t fix it I mean that you you need a a very good and valid reason to to try to change something if it’s already working but um I I do kind of think my track record speaks for itself all right Victor thank you very much for your time and best of luck this week thank you
1 Comment
Love the content let’s go victor