Already a multiple PGA TOUR winner, Ryder Cupper and U.S. Amateur champion, Viktor Hovland is undoubtedly one of the most exciting young players in the game today. When Hovland won last year’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, he became just the fifth European player since World War II to win multiple times on the PGA TOUR before the age of 24. The other four – Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm – have all gone on to win major championships, and three of the four reached No. 1 in the world. Hovland, who has qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of his first two seasons, has a tremendous opportunity to become Norway’s first male major champion. RELATED: Twenty First Group The former Oklahoma State star has not only flashed explosive ability, but has shown the tee-to-green consistency of a TOUR veteran in his 56 career starts on the circuit. Unwavering Elite Ball Striking Since the beginning of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season, there are 208 players with at least 50 rounds measured by ShotLink. Hovland is one of just 17 players in that group – 8.2% of the overall collection – to average at least 1 full stroke gained tee-to-green per round. Players on the PGA TOUR gain 2 or more strokes on the field tee-to-green in about 19% of rounds played. Hovland has done this a whopping 33.8% of the time over the last 3 seasons, the 13th-highest rate of any player. But Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green incorporates short game shots, like chips and blasts from greenside bunkers. When you isolate just performance off the tee and on approach, his numbers are even more impressive. Hovland has averaged 1.22 Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (off-the-tee plus approach) per round over the last three seasons. In that span, only three players have averaged more: Collin Morikawa (+1.39), Jon Rahm (+1.30) and Justin Thomas (+1.25). In 75% of his rounds played during that span, Hovland had a positive number in the Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking category. Only six other players can make that claim among that group (with 50 or more rounds in that span). Hovland averages 0.64 Strokes Gained: Approach per round since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, tied for seventh-most of any player. He has registered a positive strokes gained number on his approach shots in 70.6% of his rounds in that span, the fifth-highest rate on TOUR. In each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons, Hovland ranked in the top 20 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach. Only one other player was able to do that: Corey Conners. Improved Short Game While it still isn’t quite a strength of his game, Hovland has made notable strides in his short game since turning professional. Hovland jumped 44 spots in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green last season, from 168th to 124th. When scrambling from the rough, Hovland got up-and-down just 51.9% of the time in 2019-20. Last season, that number climbed to 61.0%, an improvement worth more than 120 spots in the standings. Hovland has also cut down on the frequency of costly performances around the green. In 2019-20, he had 12 rounds where he lost at least 1 stroke to the field around the green. That number was cut to eight last season. Birdies in Bunches Last season, Hovland skyrocketed from 40th to sixth in birdie average. Since the 2019-20 season began, Hovland has recorded six birdies-or-better in a round 43 times, tied for 10th-most of any player during that stretch. Since the start of last season, Hovland has put a circle on his card six-plus times in about 28% of his rounds played. The average PGA TOUR player does that in about 16% of his rounds. Hovland made a career-best nine birdies in the third round at El Camaleon Golf Club last year on his way to victory. This ability has been no more evident than in Hovland’s two victories, both of which came with a winning score of 20 under par. Hovland is one of just five players to have multiple PGA TOUR victories at -20 or lower since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, along with Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Kevin Na and Brendon Todd. With the average winning score right around 20 under at El Camaleon over the last decade, Hovland will need another prolific scoring week to become the first two-time winner of this event.
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