ST. LOUIS – Viktor Hovland would find a flaw in the Millennium diamond.
Even at his best, when he shot a blistering final-round 61 to win the 2023 BMW Championship before having another dominant performance to capture the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, Hovland already was thinking of blowing up his swing.
“It was always trying to nitpick and trying to find places where I can improve,” Hovland said.
The pursuit of perfection continues three years later at the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club, where Hovland confirmed to EuroSport Norge that he reunited last week with swing coach, Joe Mayo, who helped him reach No. 3 in the world.
"I already feel we have made great progress."
Hovland added: "It feels right... Joe is the main man now."
The
coaching carousel has become a familiar ride for Hovland, who this year alone parted with Grant Waite in March and reconnected with T.J. Yeaton at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Six weeks after winning a signature event in Hartford, Mayo is now back for another tour of duty. He posted a video on Instagram last week from the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he worked with Hovland on his bunker game.
Hovland did not mention his latest coaching change during a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday ahead of the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. He did, however, acknowledge that his game was in a special place three years ago at Olympia Fields when his back-nine 28 helped him drive off with the BMW title. Back then, his ballstriking qualified as golf’s version of the ultimate driving machine.
“You take a little bit for granted, how good it was before,” Hovland mused. "But I do think, like, without having that mindset of trying to improve, I wouldn't have gotten out here. I wouldn't have had the career that I've had up to this point. I think being really hard on myself is one of the reasons why I'm here.”
Hovland has fought a right miss, particularly off the tee, for quite some time and has lacked the consistency that used to be his trademark. He called his swing a work in progress. But he was proud of his third place finish at the RBC Canadian Open and winning the Travelers Championship in June, the first his mother has been there to witness one of his eight Tour titles.
“The way that I won, playing with Scottie over 36 holes on Saturday and Sunday and winning in a playoff (on Monday) was really cool. So that kind of has turned, you know, a poor season into, you know, something that I can at least look back on with fond memories,” he said. “But there's still some work to be done and I'm excited to keep working and get better.”
That work will be done with Mayo. Hovland hires and fires Mayo like New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner used to can and bring back Billy Martin. When the two are on the same page, Hovland has produced impressive results. That was lacking this year at the majors. He missed the cut at the last three majors of the season, leaving the 28-year-old Norwegian still seeking that elusive first major. In his first week under the tutelage of Mayo, again, Hovland was in contention after 36 holes at the FedEx St. Jude but he struggled on the weekend and tumbled to finish T-19 as the dreaded right miss reared its ugly head.
“I know where it comes from, it's just I didn't have a mechanism, right then and there, to deal with it. That's kind of what we're working on. I feel like we had a really positive day yesterday. I'm excited about where things are headed,” Hovland said. “It's just, I've always had that under pressure, if I'm under stress, like I have one shot that I know exactly what it's going to do. I just haven't had that. So, yeah, when things kind of fall off the rails, that's what you see happen on the weekend there.”
"I've seen a lot of coaches and heard a lot of different things," Hovland told HBO Max."There are a lot of smart people out there, but there's something about the way he [Mayo] can take in information, and the way he relates it to me. It really resonates with me."
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Viktor Hovland reunites with swing coach Joe Mayo -- again!
