A resurgent Viktor Hovland believes a solid short game is the key to victory at The Masters at Augusta National.
The firm, raised, indualting greens of Augusta National have caught out many players around the iconic course. If you want that Green Jacket, Hovland is adamant you have to be perfect with your pitching and putting.
“For me, it’s definitely the short game,” the Norwegian told the press this week.
“It seems like this whole place, the way it’s set up, it doesn’t allow you to get away with poor technique. Around the greens, because it’s a longer grass, it’s always mowed into you, if you have a subpar technique, it’s really going to punish you. It truly tests the best players.”
It’s been a tumultuous few months for Hovland. In January, he finally returned to the course after a nagging wrist injury finally healed. But he proceeded to miss four of his next six cuts and seemed nowhere near the form that had catapulted him to world number four.
But Hovland’s work off the course with swing coach Grant Waite paid off. The 27-year-old bounced back in fine style at the Valspar Championship in March, besting a strong field to claim his seventh PGA Tour title.
“It’s been fun seeing the improvements that we’ve had over the last couple weeks,” continued the Oslo native.
“Putting a lot of time into obviously the golf swing and seeing improvements on the range but also going out on the course and seeing that I’m able to pull the shots off and spending a lot of time around the greens, being able to hit the low bump-and-runs, the higher softer shots. Because if you don’t have those out here, it becomes extremely difficult to compete.”
