This week was a story of resurgence for Norway’s Viktor Hovland. After finishing the 2023 season with a flurry of victories including the FedEx Cup, Viktor Hovland was on top of the world. The Norwegian phenom had finally solidified himself at the top of the most competitive tour in the world. Following this success, Hovland decided to make some swing changes, resulting in a lackluster 2024 campaign. 

The start to the 2025 season has been no better, as Hovland arrived at the Copperhead Course coming off of three consecutive missed cuts. Having now fallen to 19th in the OWGR, Hovland continued to be faced with tough questions surrounding the state of his game as he tries to find his form again.

Hovland opened his week at Innisbrook with two rounds under par including a 70 on Thursday and a 67 on Friday. With his game appearing to be coming around, Hovland carried his momentum to the weekend where he carded a 3rd round 69, putting himself in great position to pick up his 7th victory.

On Sunday, Hovland came out of the gates fast, making two early birdies on his way to a front nine 35. As he began the back nine, he found himself chasing Justin Thomas, who was making a big move a few groups ahead. Hovland capitalized on both par-5’s to start the back nine, getting it to 3-under on the day and now just one shot back. A pair of impressive long iron shots at 16 and 17 set Hovland up for two more birdies, and he had regained the lead. A bogey by Justin Thomas at the 18th gave Viktor a two-shot cushion on the 72nd hole, in which he made a stress free bogey to win by one.

Winner’s Bag - Viktor Hovland

Long time Ping staffer Viktor Hovland picked up his 7th PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the finale of the Florida Swing- The Valspar Championship. Hovland has been open about his struggles of late, and has even made some slight equipment changes as he has navigated the rough patch. 

All WITB information is courtesy of GolfWRX.

Driver: PING G425 LST (9 degrees @8.5)

Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 661 TR X (45.75 inches, tipped 1 inch)

One area Hovland has kept the same for many years now comes with his driver. Off the tee, Hovland still games the PING G425 LST Driver (9 degrees, Fujikura Speeder 661 TR X) which is now a couple generations old. While two other PING drivers have now come out since the G425 release, Hovland still remains loyal to his driver and it seems to be starting to return to his form from a couple seasons ago. He finished in the top 20 of Strokes Gained Off the Tee for the week, while finishing 25th for average distance at 299.4 yards, and his 30 of 52 fairways hit ranked 34th among all players. A solid week off the tee, but certainly not the catalyst behind his victory.

3-wood: TaylorMade Sim Ti (15 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

He only carries one fairway wood, a Taylormade Sim Ti (15 degrees, Ventus Black 7X) which is even older than the G425. This is a change from his Tour Championship winning WITB from 2023, in which he deployed a TaylorMade Stealth Plus. So he goes back a couple generations from his prior fairway wood even, but goes similar in the model with the Sim Ti, which has great ball speed and low-spin, providing him a great option off the tee and even into greens on those longer par 5's.

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), PING i210 (4-PW)

Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 85 X (3), KBS Tour-V 120 X (4-PW)

Instead of a hybrid or higher lofted wood, Hovland plays a Titleist U505 utility 3-iron and pairs that with his PING i210 irons. Hovland has been gaming these PING i210 irons for a long time, and if they ain't broke, don't fix them. Hovland was 6th in Strokes Gained Approach to Green, and hit 48 of 72 greens in regulation, which was tied for the 7th best performance. Hovland's two best shots of the tournament came with these irons as he entered the infamous Snakepit, the name given to holes 16, 17 and 18 at Copperhead. On 16, which was playing as one of the more, if not most difficult hole all week, Hovland stuck an iron from 185 yards to within 6 feet of the pin, that set up a birdie that tied him for the lead. He then followed that up with a 222 yard dart on the par 3 17th, that ended up just under 12 feet from the hole. He would knock that in to take the outright lead.

Wedges: PING s159 (50-12S, 56-12S), PING Glide 2.0 (60-TS)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

For his wedges, Hovland has added a pair of new additions to his bag, gaming some new PING s159's for his 50 and 56, replacing his old PING Glide 4.0's. He still carries his trusty Glide 2.0 60 degree though. This was part of his game that actually struggled the most, as he finished 71st in Strokes Gained Around the Green. While he may have been giving strokes back to the field with his wedge play, he was able to minimize the damage, converting 18 of his 24 scramble opportunities. 

Perhaps the biggest reason for Hovland’s return to the winner’s circle this week was the putter. The PLD DS72 Prototype looked as good as it has in a couple of years, as Hovland finished 2nd in Strokes Gained Puting for the Week. He holed 86 feet of putts, which ranked 9th, and also ranked 9th in Putts per GIR, averaging 1.67 for the tournament. Overall, it was just an outstanding week on the greens for Hovland, and we will see if this confidence can help him return to the form he showed at the end of the 2023 season, in which he was arguably the best player in the world at that time.