Viktor Hovland is one of the 54-hole leaders at the 2025 Valspar Championship and is currently the favorite to win his seventh PGA Tour title. Yet, the Norwegian star has been out of the winner’s circle since the 2023 TOUR Championship.
Naturally, Hovland is happy with his current situation. After his third-round performance, he explained his feelings at the moment.
“I mean it’s fun to be in done tension but it is a little bit more stressful when you don’t feel super comfortable over the ball. But, man, it’s fun to see some putts go in and still see the ball end up close to the hole and put some good scores up there,” he said.
The 27-year-old also thoroughly analyzed his performance on Moving Day, when he shot a 2-under 69.
“I’m happy with the score,” Hovland said. “There’s a lot of good. Still a lot of feels like saving a lot of shots, but they’re going fairly straight, so it’s okay. They’re all in play and when I got out of position I think I solved the problems pretty well.”
Hovland leads the Valspar Championship after missing the cut in three consecutive tournaments, including a round of 80 at the PLAYERS Championship. It is quite the turnaround.
“It’s golf, it’s a crazy game. I do think for just this type of golf course really fits me right now. It’s not like you have to bomb the drivers everywhere, it’s more of a positioning golf course,” he said.
“I do feel like I can hit some nice iron shots that end up close to the hole, because… even though I haven’t been swinging it all that great my stats with the irons have been pretty decent the last few weeks. So at a golf course like this I still feel like I can give myself a lot of looks for birdie.”
The Oslo, Norway native has been among the leaders since the start of the Valspar Championship, but it was the third round that moved him into a tie for the lead.
Viktor Hovland this season:T36T22CUTCUTCUTThe 2023 #FedExCup champion co-leads entering the final round @ValsparChamp. pic.twitter.com/OmhvtOEW2A
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 22, 2025
On Saturday, Hovland carded three birdies and one bogey for a 54-hole score of 7-under par, tied with Nico Echavarria and Jacob Brideman. He had scores of 70 and 67 in the previous rounds.
His performance on the greens is one of the biggest reasons for his ascension. But he knows Sunday is going to be even more difficult.
“They’re getting toasty. There’s less and less grass out there and they’re getting pretty slick,” Hovland said.
Viktor Hovland has not had a good start to the season, with three missed cuts in five starts. In fact, he has missed the cut in every 36-hole cut tournament he has played in 2025.
Those results continued a bad streak that began in 2024, when he had just two top-10 finishes in 16 events.
In contrast, Hovland had the best season of his career in 2023, when he won three tournaments and finished as the FedEx Cup champion.
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