“It’s still not great,” Viktor Hovland UNHAPPY with golf swing despite ending PGA Tour title drought following win at Valspar Championship

Viktor Hovland claimed his 7th PGA Tour title and his first since the 2023 Tour Championship by winning the Valspar Championship.

“It’s still not great,” Viktor Hovland UNHAPPY with golf swing despite ending PGA Tour title drought following win at Valspar Championship

Viktor Hovland (Image via X/@GOLF_com)

After winning the Tour Championship in 2023, it seemed Viktor Hovland was on top of the golfing world. However, after that, he went through a rough patch and had some tough results. On Sunday, he ended his PGA Tour title following a win at the Valspar Championship. Despite this win, he was unhappy with his golf swing.

Before the start of the 2024 season, Hovland surprisingly parted ways with his swing coach Joe Mayo. The resulted in him struggling at some events. After some time, the two of them would get back to work together only for them to go their separate ways again before the start of this season.

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His golf swing is something that has been troubling him for a while now. He even went back to his old style of double pump to get back in form.

At one stage on Sunday, he found himself three shots behind leader Justin Thomas. As the former World No.1 struggled at the last stretch, Hovland took advantage of it. Despite hitting a bogey on the final hole, he finished one shot ahead of Thomas to win his 7th PGA Tour title.

During the press conference after the tournament, the Norwegian international admitted that his golf swing was still “not great” and claimed that he hit some poor shots. He did admit that he was able to time his shot “extremely” well.

I’m still hitting the same shots that I have been the whole year, really. But it’s just I was able to time it extremely well this week. It felt like every single good shot that I hit I just saved it really well.

Viktor Hovland told the reporters in the post-round press conference

This was the first cut he had made on the PGA Tour this season. Before this, he played on the weekend during The Sentry and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, two events that did not feature a cut. A week ago at The Players Championship, Hovland shot a score of 8-over 80 in the first round. So despite hitting 4-under 68 in the second round, he missed the cut in this event.

How much money did Viktor Hovland make following his win at the Valspar Championship?

After two back-to-back weeks of high-elevated events on the PGA Tour, it was time for a normal event to take place. Unlike the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship which had a $20 and $25 million purse respectively, the pool purse for this event was $8.7 million. So how much did Viktor Hovland make from this win?

Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland (Image via X/@GOLF_com)

Hovland’s first winning pay cheque on the PGA Tour since August 2023 saw him bag $1.56 million from the $8.7 million purse. The win also brought him 500 FedEx Cup points.

As for Justin Thomas, it was another runner-up finish for him. This runner-up finish saw him earn $948,000 from the purse. This saw his total career earnings on the Tour go past $60 million and entered the top 10 in the career earning standings.

PGA Tour winner makes bold Ryder Cup prediction after Viktor Hovland’s triumph at Valspar Championship

After 19 long months, Viktor Hovland found himself in the winner’s circle once again. The victory of the 27-year-old at the Valspar Championship has lead to a PGA Tour winner making a bold claim regarding the Ryder Cup.

Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland (Image via Imago)

Hovland was part of Team Europe who won the Ryder Cup in 2023. His participation for the 2025 event at the Bethpage course in New York had become a topic of discussion following his recent struggles on the greens.

PGA Tour winner Michael Kim on X made a bold claim regarding this tournament after Hovland’s win. Kim, who finished T28 in this event with a score of 2-under par, expressed that the European team was peaking too early.

European squad is peaking a little too early… I think…

Michael Kim on X

Just a week ago, 4-time major champion Rory McIlroy claimed his 2nd The Players Championship title by beating J.J. Spaun in a playoff round. That was McIlroy’s second win of the year, having already won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In the middle of his two wins, Ludvig Aberg won at The Genesis Invitational.

Before the Ryder Cup, the attention of all these golfers will turn towards the upcoming Masters Tournament. While all three of the European Ryder Cup stars will play in this event, Kim still has to qualify for this. If he reaches the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), he will punch his ticket for the Augusta National.