PGA Tour superstar plays down chances of winning The Masters: 'Can I win? Probably not...'
PGA Tour superstar Viktor Hovland is not convinced he can win The Masters with a cluttered mind and swing thoughts, despite finding himself just four shots off the lead heading into the third round.
You might think coming off a victory on the PGA Tour last month and entering the weekend just four shots off the pace that Viktor Hovland might be pretty confident of winning The Masters on Sunday. But he doesn't feel that way at all.
Hovland, 27, recently went as to far to claim 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.
He's also been chopping and changing swing coaches.
Hovland confirmed he had parted ways for a second time with long-time swing coach Joe Mayo earlier in the season, before then sycing up with TJ Yeaton at the Dubai Desert Classic in January.
But that didn't last too long and the Dane has now started working much closer with former PGA Tour pro Grant Waite.
That particular decision appears to have paid instant dividends since Hovland is now back in the PGA Tour's winners circle following victory three weeks ago at the Valspar Championship.
It marked his seventh career win on the PGA Tour and his first in more than 18 months since becoming FedEx Cup champion in 2023.
He's also now back in the world's top 10.
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Speaking to the media after two rounds at The Masters, where Hovland looks on from just four shots behind leader Justin Rose entering the weekend, and the World No.9 still isn't feeling a great deal of confidence.
It's getting there though.
Hovland admits his swing feels more like a 6/10 than a 4/10 when he won at the Valspar last month.
But Hovland knows with such a cluttered mind of swing thoughts going on right now, it's going to be an extremely tough battle for him to be slipping on a first Green Jacket, especially with the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau also in contention at Augusta.
When pressed by a reporter after the second round whether he thinks he can go on and win The Masters, Hovland replied:
"Probably not."
Hovland then thought about his answer some more, before saying: "Well, depends what the swing thought is I would say. You always got to have some thought in your head. But it's more pertaining to the curvature of the shot. Like if you're trying to hit a little bit of a cut or a little bit of a draw, you have to have some sort of feel.
"Obviously preset yourself to set that curvature, but there is usually something you have in your head to make the ball do that.
"So it's not like you can just have no thoughts and stripe it. But yeah, it's got to be pretty automatic when you're out here. Can't be thinking P2 and P5. That's not how it works."
For those none the wiser, in the P classification system in golf, P2 refers to the takeaway position where the golf club is parallel to the ground as it's being lifted off the ball. P5 is the transition or early downswing where the golf club is moving from the top of the swing towards impact and the lead arm is roughly parallel to the game.
Hovland finds himself inside the top 10 entering the weekend at The Masters on 4-under par following rounds of 71 and 69.
The European Ryder Cup hero joins his fellow Scandinavian Rasmus Hojgaard for a third-round tee-time at 2pm.
Keep up to speed with live third round Masters leaderboard and updates
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
