Report: Viktor Hovland goes back to old flame before $20m PGA Tour event
PGA Tour star Viktor Hovland has confirmed that he is going back to his old putter and will be wearing different golf shoes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Viktor Hovland has made two equipment tweaks ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The Norwegian golfer confirmed to Espen Bleker of Eurosport that he's decided to put the Ping PLD DS-72 prototype back in the bag after a brief stint with a centre-shafted Ping Oslo putter.
And despite being a Puma footwear athlete, the European Ryder Cup hopeful has taken the decision to wear his old Nike shoes.
Hovland told the publication that he's already feeling more comfortable over the ball on the greens.
"I feel I can read the slopes of the greens better with my feet," he said.
"They are so light, and actually a bit unstable, compared to the Puma shoes I've been using for a while now.
"These are the ones I've played with for much of my career, so I'm very familiar with them.
"I feel like I read the greens much better, which makes me much more comfortable with the ball."
Hovland decided to switch putters at the Genesis Invitational.
But that change was also short-lived.
"The putter I used in Genesis was nice, but it was also different," Hovland said.
"I haven't had much time to practice with it, and during tournaments, under pressure, I just got a little unsure.
"Then I thought that when I was going to put in the time to practice putting again, I might as well go back to the old one.
"The putter wasn't the problem, so it feels good to go back to something you trust."
Hovland has missed two cuts from four starts in 2025.
He recently claimed that he 'sucked' at the game.
At the turn of the year, Hovland told reporters he made a mistake trying to pursue a swing change that would help him draw the ball.
"Maybe [I] didn't realise how good it was [hitting a cut] or I thought it could continue to get better and better and better," he said.
"For the most part of my career, every decision that I've made to change something up in order to play better, it has worked."
Despite Hovland's frustrations, Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald recently claimed he is not worried about his form.
"He's really not that far off to be honest if you look at the stats," Donald told GolfChannel.
Read more about that here.
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