Viktor Hovland Had The Perfect Description for How Terrible His Chipping Used to Be

These days, Viktor Hovland doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses, but the same could not have been said of Hovland’s game a year ago. 

The Norwegian captured his second win of the season at last week’s BMW Championship when he shot a final-round 61 at Olympia Fields, and at 25 years old, he’s currently ranked No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings and No. 4 in the Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings.

Although Hovland had a successful 2021-2022 season, it was painfully obvious that he had a gaping hole in his skillset: The Oklahoma State product was tortured by his short game. 

It might have taken some time to close that gap, but Hovland has finally done it, and it's easy to see the impact of his hard work. 

“Obviously it helps being able to chip the ball,” Hovland said ahead of this week’s Tour Championship. “Just my all around game feels a little bit more complete.”

It appears that the statistics back up Hovland’s claims. This week at East Lake, Hovland is ranked 2nd in strokes gained around the green and 3rd in scrambling. Such numbers were unattainable for him prior to this season. 

After Hovland shot a 6-under 64 at East Lake on Friday to grab a share of the lead, he described the short game woes of his past to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis with shocking detail.

It turns out that the five-time PGA Tour winner had a rather relatable mindset when it game to shots around the green. Apparently, he and his friend came up with a simple goal for their chip shots: “Just land it on and keep it on.”

To hear a PGA Tour player of Hovland’s caliber utter those words within a somewhat serious context is flat-out terrifying. 

“Before, when I was standing over every shot, I was like, ‘Don’t duff it, skull it, don’t leave it in the bunker,” Hovland said. “Me and a buddy of mine, we made up this saying: Just land it on and keep it on. We set the bar pretty low when we had a chip.”

Thankfully, Hovland doesn’t experience such nightmarish thoughts on the course anymore. 

“Now it’s a lot of fun to be able to open up that face and just slap the ground and put some friction on the ball,” he said.

The Norwegian has finally discovered the joy of chipping, and based on his recent results, it’s easy to see why.