Viktor Hovland: From misreading putts by TWO FEET to defending Hero World title
Viktor Hovland revealed the new putting technique which helped him to defend his title at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club.
Viktor Hovland has an apparent affinity with Albany Golf Club. On Sunday, he became the first player to defend his title at the Hero World Challenge since tournament host Tiger Woods in 2007.
Just as in 2021, Hovland finished ahead of Scottie Scheffler back in second place. The young Norwegian carded a final-round 69 to seal the deal by two shots before posing for a picture with the trophy and Woods himself.
After the final round, Hovland revealed that his putting recently underwent a significant shift in technique. He works with Jeff Smith, the Director of Instruction at Eagle Springs GC in Colorado and a Top 100 instructor. They teamed up back in 2020.
Hovland claims he was misreading 15-foot putts by two feet at Karsten Creek, just outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma where he lives. A concerning image considering he is a three-time PGA Tour winner and World No. 9.
Smith introduced AimPoint putting to him, the putting routine that has become popular in the amateur and professional games. Hovland felt inspired once Smith instilled this technique into his arsenal and he was able to end his year in perfect fashion.
Nothing quite like watching golf with dad on Sunday pic.twitter.com/bbqLrHbnEH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 5, 2022
AimPoint requires you to stand in front of your putt and hold up the number of fingers corresponding to the degree of slope your putt has. Your pointer finger should be centred on the hole and your other fingers on the high side of your line. The edge of your outside finger is supposedly the AimPoint.
As Hovland says, this method doesn't guarantee a perfect quick fix to your short game. Weather conditions and the speed of the green are other variables which you still need to calculate in your mind too.
Other players such as Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Stacey Lewis and Lydia Ko have also used AimPoint. There is method to the madness and this showed with another strong display in December from Hovland.
