‘Still not happy:’ Viktor Hovland’s search continues despite going low at Pebble Beach

Viktor Hovland was as honest as they come on Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

When asked about the state of his game, the 27-year-old Norwegian was blunt.

“In my opinion, I suck at it right now — but that’s all relative,” Hovland said.

“It’s not very good. It’s been frustrating. I do feel like I’m making headway, and I’m constantly trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Even if I’m not seeing results from day to day, which is extremely frustrating, I do feel like I’m learning more. Even if that domino doesn’t start to fall today or tomorrow or the next day, I’m hoping the cumulative effect of that knowledge and experience, eventually, I’ll get over that hump, and we’ll turn things around.

“Right now, it’s pretty frustrating. This game of golf, as I said earlier, it’s very elusive, it’s counterintuitive and it’s very difficult right now. But I know there’s a lot of good golf in me that will be there in the future and that I’ve played in the past. Things will turn around soon.”

Things appeared to turn around during Thursday’s first round when Hovland fired an opening-round 7-under 65 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, putting him one shot off Russell Henley’s lead.

But one 7-under round in benign conditions at iconic Pebble Beach didn’t make Hovland feel any better about the state of his game as the PGA Tour season starts to ramp up.

The man who described himself as “certified nuts” a few weeks ago in Dubai is still searching in the golf wilderness for the swing that he feels can get him back to the elite level of golf he is accustomed to playing.

“I can still play, and today was good conditions. I hit a few really nice wedges and started making some putts,” Hovland said after his round. “You know, I’m trying to obviously get my mind out of the technical aspects of it and just trying to play golf. Obviously, I can’t complain about — whatever the stats were for today, I gained probably off the tee and into the greens. Looks great on paper.

“It’s just how my mind works is naturally trying to extrapolate what I did today and how would I play over the course of a season. I’m still not happy with my game, how it looks, but that doesn’t mean that I can have great individual days or great individual tournaments. So I’m still really pumped to shoot 65, but I know that I’m not going to just let that overlook the problems or the issues that I have in my game. They’re still there, but I was able to overcome it today.”

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Hovland’s swing search has led to some difficult mental moments. He knows he’s close, even if it doesn’t feel like it. His current objective is to find a way to play decent, competitive golf with what he sees as a flawed swing and then continue to chip away at things when away from the spotlight.

“Your expectations just start lowering drastically because I know what I’m capable of,” Hovland said when asked if it was difficult to be in the right frame of mind during this period. “In 2023 I had the best season of my career, and I know I can play at that level again. And I want to play at that level every single time. But I know that as I’m hitting worse and worse shots, eventually you kind of have to be a little bit kinder to yourself and just go, okay, I might hit some terrible shots, but let’s try to hit the terrible shots in an okay position instead of in the water or short-siding myself. Let’s try to plot my way around and shoot okay scores, and then we can work on things after the round and just keep getting a little bit better.”

That’s easier said than done, of course, especially given Hovland’s standards. But he’s working to mentally rewire himself so that he can play his best golf in tournaments without his A-game.

“I’m still trying to figure that out. To be quite honest with you, I try to care a little bit less,” Hovland said about being in the right mental state to compete amid swing changes. “I care a lot about trying to play well, and when you don’t quite have the level to match that expectation, it hurts. Constantly trying to come out here and pump yourself up to play well, and then you’re disappointed because you can’t play at that level, you know, it takes a toll psychologically.

“So just trying to have a little bit more fun, not care as much about the result, and just go from there.”

Perhaps Hovland will find something this week along the idyllic coastline of Pebble Beach. Or maybe he’ll just plot his way around with a swing that isn’t fully cooperating and go back to grinding out of sight.

Either way, the search continues.