Viktor Hovland WDs from RBC Heritage a day after shooting 81, missing cut at Masters
13/04/2024 15:26
The curious case of Viktor Hovland in 2024 continues.
Seven months ago, he was on top of the golfing world. He won the FedEx Cup and the $18 million prize. He was strong in the European Ryder Cup victory in Rome.
Now, he has withdrawn from next week’s RBC Heritage, the next signature event on the PGA Tour’s schedule. This comes on the heels of shooting 81 on Friday and missing the cut at the 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
How volatile the game can be.
Hovland has made the cut in all five of his starts on Tour this year until Friday, when he started 7 over through five holes at Augusta National. It got worse, as he missed a par putt on the par-5 15th hole and tried to knock in a putt from a couple inches outside the hole and missed in frustration.
Viktor, buddy pic.twitter.com/7JFBntgH5z
— Schu (@tschu_22) April 12, 2024
Last year, Hovland placed T-4 at Augusta National and shot 1-under 71 in the opening round. But a 7-over 43 on the front nine doomed Hovland on a difficult day Friday.
Back in March, Hovland spoke at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and said he would rather practice than try to work through something in the middle of a tournament. Perhaps that’s one reason for the World No. 6’s withdrawal.
“It’s been a little bit frustrating so far this year,” Hovland said. “Feel like my swing hasn’t been quite as good as it has been in previous years, so it’s been, felt like I’ve tried to prioritize just being home and practicing, putting a lot of work in. Don’t really want to fight through something while playing, it’s just not that fun, and I don’t see the point of it. Just been prioritizing time at home and, yeah, just taking care of the fundamentals.”
Hovland switches instructors after his stellar run last year in part because he said even with his great golf last year, he felt as if he wasn’t hitting the shots exactly how he wanted to. Sure, there were vast improvements in his short game and for a stretch late last summer, he was the best player in the world.
But he made a chance, starting to work with former Tour pro Grant Waite.
Earlier this week, Hovland was working with Dana Dahlquist, as the search for perfection continues.
“I’m still kind of looking for some opinions out there, but I feel like I’m on a good track right now and we’ll see where that takes us,” Hovland said Tuesday. “But, yeah, I mean, it’s one of those things. Like, I was playing great golf last year, but it’s not like I’m trying to change my golf swing. It’s just sometimes the game of golf you try to do the same every day, but then things aren’t the same every day when you go to the golf course. I took a huge break after last year and when I came back, things were a little bit different and I had to kind of find my way back to where I think I’m going to play my best golf.
“And even at the end of the last year I still felt like, yeah, I was playing great, but I got a lot out of my game and it didn’t necessarily feel sustainable, but it’s not like I consciously went in and said, ‘hey, we’re going to change everything up.'”
