Viktor Hovland makes hilarious admission after ending his winless drought on PGA Tour

Full leaderboard

Viktor Hovland says he has no clue how he was able to end his winless drought on the PGA Tour at the 2025 Valspar Championship. 

Hovland has been down in the doldrums with his game for the better part of 18 months but stepped back into the winner's circle on Sunday. 

The European Ryder Cup star hit three birdies in his final five holes to reel in Justin Thomas and clip the tournament by one stroke.

Hovland's final round of 4-under 67 saw him finish on a 72-hole total of 11-under par at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. 

Billy Horschel, Bud Cauley, Seamus Power, Lucas Glover and Shane Lowry also finished in the top-10.

World number three Xander Schauffele finished tied 12th on 5-under.

For Hovland, it is the Norwegian's seventh victory on the PGA Tour and first since the 2023 Tour Championship at East Lake.

Back then, he looked like the man to beat in men's professional golf and also played a starring role in Europe's Ryder Cup victory in Italy. 

"It feels unbelievable," Hovland told reporters. 

"It's been quite the struggle the past year and a half, so for me to come back and win this tournament is quite incredible because I was not very hopeful with my game leading into this week.

"It just goes to show this game is pretty crazy."

Thomas played poorly on day one and two and was sweating the 36-hole cut. 

He vaulted up the leaderboard on Saturday alongside his good buddy Jordan Spieth.

The two-time major winner, who last won at the 2022 US PGA Championship at Southern Hills, looked as though he was going to canter to victory after storming to the front with a flurry of birdies.

Thomas made seven birdies through 15 holes but dropped shots at 16 and 18 which allowed Hovland a stress-free walk up the final hole. 

Hovland did make a meal out of the par-4 18th by carving his tee shot way right. 

But he got back in position with his second and a closing bogey was enough to win by one stroke.

Still, Hovland contended that his swing is still 'not great'. 

"I'm still hitting the same shots that I have been the whole year, really," he said. 

"But it's just I was able to time it extremely well this week. It felt like every single good shot that I hit I just saved it really well. 

"Because the club is just not in a great place for me coming down. It's just not what it used to be. 

"So I can't really rely on my old feels anymore because the club is in a different spot and I have to change my release pattern to make that work. 

"Now, incredibly, I did make it work and was able to win and I think that is something that I'm extremely proud of that I can show up at a PGA Tour event at one of the hardest golf courses we play all year and still win with not my best stuff. 

"So I think that's really cool, that's something that I'm extremely proud of, but at the same time it makes this game a lot more stressful than I think it should be."

The Masters awaits

Hovland will now turn his attentions to the first major championship of the year. 

Last year, Hovland missed the cut at Augusta National. 

He said it's going to be difficult for him to contend if he doesn't rectify the problem with his swing. 

"It's just a different golf course," he said.  

"You're going to hit so many long irons into par-4s and you got drive it pretty far because the fairways are pretty wide, it's more of a bomber's paradise versus this place it's more just about being precise off the tee. 

"So there's still some things that I need to improve, but luckily we got two weeks and this is certainly nice to kind of have in the back of my mind leading up to Augusta."