A Round with Radar – Episode 21: Viktor Hovland

Seven PGA Tour titles, two Ryder Cup appearances and a FedExCup Champion. PING Pro Viktor Hovland joins Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley at Gullane Golf Club in Scotland for a nine-hole match. Along the way, they discuss growing up in Norway, playing at Oklahoma State and his career to date, as well as his inquisitive nature and desire to understand everything from his golf swing to conspiracy theories.

00:00 – Intro
2:26 – Growing up and golf in Norway
8:02 – AimPoint technique
9:40 – Strategy off the tee
11:57 – Playing at Oklahoma State
14:29 – Winning the US Amateur in 2018
15:20 – Relationship with PING
18:15 – Viktor’s PLD DS72 putter
20:57 – Nutrition and routine
24:57 – Viktor’s iDi Driving Iron
26:36 – Wedge grind preferences
30:06 – Winning on the PGA TOUR
31:45 – Enjoying the pursuit
32:40 – Viktor’s irons
34:50 – Music taste
38:05 – Ryder Cup experiences
40:41 – Interest in conspiracy theories
45:22 – Playing PING equipment
49:19 – What’s next for Viktor
51:20 – Enjoying the grind
53:10 – Viktor’s team
54:18 – Off-week schedule

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Welcome to a round with radar. It’s one you’ve been waiting for. One of the most interesting men in golf. A rider cup FedEx champion Victor Hovlin. Cool. E. I’m playing today at Gullan Golf Club. No stranger to big time golf. It’s hosted the Scottish Open on more than one occasion. But today it’s all about Victor. Come on, let’s go and have a whack with you. Well, let’s go and find him. First T going. Got to be happy with that. Beautiful day in Scotland. It’s like this every single day. Victor. Hey, how are you, mate? I’m good, man. Good to see you. Look, here he is. The boy. Sometimes he’s a bit tricky to get, but when we’ve got him, we’ve got him. You got a little dodgy neck at the moment. You all right? Yeah, we’re fine. Good lad. Good lad. Good enough to Good enough to beat you. Yeah. Well, well, I won’t disagree. I will not disagree. with that. You played here before, Victor? This is the first time here. This used to be the Scottish Open here. Like Ricky won here and Bren Stone won here. Okay. But this first hole, the second hole was number one. But as you can see, there are a few bunkers up there. You go first. All right. Yeah, I should be a hidden driver here and getting pretty close to the green. What? You or me? I I I I hope I am, but I got a little bit into the wind. Need a couple swings. Yeah, absolutely. That flushed me in. That was nice. That was really good. Did that cover that bunker? Uh, I think it’s probably just short of the green. Oh, yeah. Oh, she’s a little wide. Little cut up shot. It’s good angle over there. Oh, yeah. Okay, let’s go. We’re away. Let’s go enjoy ourselves. So, Victor, it’s very kind of you to actually come and play with us today. Yeah. So, we really been looking forward to it. The Ping family. Uh, growing up in Norway now, golf, you don’t think of Norway and you don’t you immediately just don’t go to golf, do you? No. football, skiing, flying through the air like Eddie the Eagle. Yeah. All that sort of stuff. So, how did you get into it? Uh, my dad actually worked in the in the United States and obviously there you’re see golf courses everywhere. Brought a golf set back home and that’s kind of how I started playing. But I uh played football with all my buddies growing up. Uh, did Taekwond do actually. You did taekwond do? Mhm. Yeah. So, you better watch out. Yeah. Yeah. So, did you go to the States with your dad or did he just bring stuff back? Oh, he just brought stuff back. Yeah, he was an engineer and and uh worked on some stuff over there and then came back eight nine months later and I was about three or four years old and I grow up or I grew up really close to a huge field. So that’s where I hit my first few shots uh just in a wide open field. So doing that in Norway in the So how long could you play in the summer for? Probably yes, seven months. Six, seven months maybe. Yeah, it’s not bad. So, in the winter, where did you go into a big factory or something? I wouldn’t for until I was 12. And then I asked my dad, “Hey, I I kind of want to practice in the winter as well.” Yeah. I um and and they used to have this old airport hanger. Used to be the main airport. And then they moved the airport, but this hanger was still left there and they turned it into a driving range cuz most of the places where you would hit balls indoors in Norway, it would be just um a little house and then you have a net that’s 10 ft in front of you. But in this hanger, you could actually see 80 yards of the ball flight. So for us, it was amazing. You could put some targets up in the net. There used to be this little bell in a place and we and we would just try to hit the bell all day long. Wait, is it still there? this hanger. Uh they actually a couple years ago they they had to turn it down cuz or they have to shut it down cuz the development has gotten or there’s a lot of apartments. It’s growing a lot. So it’s a very expensive uh area. So kids in Holland, you Norway, sorry. Sorry. Yeah, that was a big mistake, wasn’t it? That you must have inspired a lot of of people. Yeah. I’ve Do you notice it when you go home? Well, I didn’t I do notice there’s a lot of people playing golf. Um, you know, it’s basically fully booked from dusk till dawn. And, uh, what’s cool for me when I’m driving around the city, I see a lot of kids. Yeah. On scooters, girls or uh some girls, but it’s mostly younger kids, guys. Yeah. But they’re driving their scooters and they have a golf bag on on the back. Yeah. That’s cool. U, so that’s that’s cool to see. But well, that’s how I used to get in the golf club. I don’t know about you. I used to ride my push bike and in Australia they just pulled it behind. Yeah. I mean, but that’s great. Yeah, that’s such a great story. Yeah, the hanger. The havland hanger. Hey, I can’t see your ball. It’s either in that bunker there or it’s in that bunker at the front of the front of the green and I’ve got 92 to the flag. Yeah. So, there it is. So, where do you think your ball is? You think it’s in a sandy grave up there, Victor? Well, I thought it was a little bit right of the bunker, but I don’t see a ball. So, we’ll see. I never see anyone knock it on here. Maybe today. Pushed it a bit. Play it safe. Spin. Oh, dear. It’s going to be all right. We’ll find it. We’ll find it, Victor. This is going to be interesting to see where your ball is. Yeah. Now, we haven’t staged. We don’t stage anything on a round with radar. We don’t do it. But I don’t know, Victor, how you’ve got that ball to there with that bunk. Yeah, I know about the guns. I know all about that. But how have you got it around that bunker? I don’t know. It looks like it must have just snuck around there. Well, he’s got himself about an 8-footer, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, for an eagle, too. And I don’t remember winning one of these round with radars. And this doesn’t this doesn’t this doesn’t I’m not off to a flyer, let me tell you. So come on, Victor. I want to see you just knock that in. Let’s just knock that in. Well, I kind of want to see you putt two, three more times before you get inside. But I’m not going to give it to I want you to hold that and make it two. Yeah. I don’t think you can get it closer than that. Really? No. That’s insane, actually. Yeah. Hey, Victor, there’s a lot of talk, you know, anchoring with these long putters. There’s one person in the world that’s allowed to anchor. That’s me. Okay. And if I look like I’m anchoring, it’s because I am. Okay. Okay. I love it. Good, lad. Wow. There’s some speed on those greens. Do it. [Laughter] Wow. That lethal. I’m like a death adder. You giving me that, Victor? That’s good. That’s good. Nice part. You want this in or out? Uh, you could pull it, please. So, I’ve seen you aim pointing. Do you want to tell us all about that, Victor? Yeah, I mean, it’s a it’s a pretty good just guesstimation, a system of how um how much a given putt breaks. So, you rely on the percentage slope that you can feel with your feet. Now, I’m not very gifted in terms of looking with my eyes and seeing slope. I’m basically a blind man. So, even though my Tell me Tell me why. That That’s amazing. That’s honesty there. Yeah. Yeah. No, I just can’t I just can’t see the brake as well as other guys can. And then you factor in different greens every week, different green speeds, and I mean, you we we’re all aware of optical illusions, how that can affect what you see. So, I I frankly just don’t trust my eyes very much. And that’s also why I have a line on my ball. I have a double line on the putter. So, I just make sure that it keeps me uh aiming in a pretty nice spot because if I don’t have any of these um aids, I can, you know, I just I just don’t know where I’m aiming. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. You just do it your way. You get Yeah, that’s fine. Yeah. It’s just that’s just how I do things. Yeah, for an eagle too. Oh, good try, Victor. That’s good. Yeah, we’ll take that. Good birdie to start. Good birdie. Here we go, Victor. The second hole here at Gull. It’s a beastly thing into the breeze today up the hill. How do you go about this hole? this T-shot. I mean, are you looking on the first you hit a beautiful soft draw? Yeah. Are you looking at that shape up here, the soft draw to penetrate the breeze a bit more, or are you aiming it where the rough juts out on the left and sliding it off it? I think ideally when I’m swinging at my best, I do 100% of the time start the ball left and curve it to the right. Right now, kind of with uh some of the swing struggles that I’ve had the last year and a half, it’s harder for me to do that reliably off the tea. And right now for me with a dog leg right to left, wind is slightly off the left. I’m there is no additional value in me trying to cut it up against the wind just for just for my own satisfaction. I could do that. But if I’m trying to play a tournament, I’m just going to start it out to the right. If it draws slightly, perfect. And then just let the wind take it around there. Okay, I like that. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely nailed. Yeah, that was I notic you teed that uh pretty well down as well. Yeah, I have a tendency of doing that. I just don’t like it when it’s teed up too high. I feel like I’m going to hit it high on the face. So that where you teed it down low then is your natural goto height. Yes. And that’s a bit more of a fairway finder. That was a nail. straight. [Laughter] I could say to you all and the people at Ping not to show that, but I know they will. I hope you guys do. It was into the wind and I kept it really nice and low. I was talking about teeing it low and you just and I just top it. Victor, going from Norway to Oklahoma, what was that like? Did you enjoy yourself there at that school, very famous school? Yeah, it is. We’ve had a lot of good golfers there and that was kind of the one things I was just really motivated to go there cuz you step into the clubhouse at Carson Creek and you see all the winners, you see all the trophies that are there and you think to yourself, this is a place you come to if you want to play professional golf. So, I was really motivated to go there and it’s uh it’s a little different from Norway, but um it must be hard to get in there as a golfer. You must be a you have to be a standout. Yeah. Yeah. Usually I have to do something in junior golf or amateur golf to to prove yourself. And um Coach Prattton uh actually recruited me in Scotland, played a junior tournament there. So I was on his radar. Yeah. And um yeah, he actually recruited Christopher Ventura, a fellow countryman of mine first. He was a couple years older and then two years later, uh I followed him. So it was Yeah. panned out great. And you’re still there? I’m sorry. You say you say you’re going to have a pad down in um Palm Beach where a lot of the golfers are obviously for the winter. Yeah. And will you still spend summers there? Do you go do you go and practice on campus still? Yeah, they actually redid the golf course and it’s uh it’s a beast. They usually it used to be really hard. Now it’s even harder. And there’s another place called Oak Tree National. I don’t know if you No. Uh they had the PJ there in ‘ 89. Uh the Greg Golf Course. I did wear JT uh one a couple years back. Southern Hills. Southern Hills. Yeah. So, it’s about an hour and 40 minutes away. Oh, that’s So, you’re nowhere near there. No. No. Unfortunately. I’d love to be closer cuz I’d play there as well. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, Oklahoma’s got some good golf. Oklahoma. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t sleep on it. Look at that drone up there hovering. Don’t hit it. There you go. Pull. That’s a nice shot. Yeah, that’s a bit better. Should be up there. Yeah, that’s all right. 11 on two from the right. That’s ridiculous. That’d be right. What are you hitting? I got a nine iron. It’s up the other end to the wind, but it looks like kind of a semi jumper. Stay. Get down. That’ll work. Uh, sorry. So, 2018, Victor, your first big win was at the US amateur. Tell us, tell us all about that. It was unbelievable. Uh, I kind of had a rough summer and, uh, Coach Bratton, my, uh, university coach at Oklahoma State. He was going to caddy for me and he just called me the week before and asked how I was playing. I said, “Uh, it’s not very good, coach. I’m going to need some help from you this week.” And uh just every day that I played, I just got a little bit better, felt a bit more confident, and then by the end of the week, we were holding the trophy. Did that surprise you to win that event? Yeah. Yeah, I did. Cuz I had only I had only won one time before. I won once uh in college. Yeah. Earlier that year. And that was basically the only win I had had uh outside of Norway. So for me to win the US amer as a second tournament massive it’s it was pretty shocking. And what about to um how did how did you your involvement with ping come about? Yeah. So, winning the US Amter, you obviously get into the majors. Yeah. And happened to meet John A there at uh at Augusta and um later later on as I was getting closer to turning pro, testing out ping equipment and I uh had some different clubs as an amateur that I kind of testing different stuff. But the US US Open at Pebble Beach was the last tournament I played as an amateur. And I did that with a ping driver and ping irons. And I think for the whole front nine that week, I didn’t miss a single fairway. And I was leading uh strokes gained off the tea and finished 12th for that week. So I had a an un unbelievable week and uh kind of fueled my uh start to my uh professional career. You go about golf in your own way. You’re quite would you say you’re methodical? Sure. Yeah. Would you see ping with the way you go about golf a natural fit? I think so. Because they are very there’s a lot of scientific stuff that goes into ping stuff. Yeah. I mean, you don’t you don’t build great equipment like this by chance. You actually have to know what you’re doing. Yes. And I consider Ping’s engineers the best at what they do. And obviously the legacy that Carson Soloulheim has left behind is it’s just it’s a really cool history and especially Carson being from Norway there’s some sentimentality to it as well for you. Yeah. I just think it’s a it’s a never really thought of it like that. It’s a great fit and I uh have so much respect for what they do. Yeah. Well, let’s face it. I mean, I I’m not saying this because, you know, we’re both ping players, but I think it’s the it’s the best equipment in the world. I I think so. Well, if it wasn’t Yeah. we wouldn’t use it. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. It’s fact. Yeah. [Laughter] For as much as you wear a hat, you would think that wouldn’t happen all that often. No. What happens with it? If I don’t work, I haven’t worked for a week. Yeah. And what it does, it shrinks until I wear it. Like I haven’t worn it for a week, so it shrinks and it just sits up there until it Okay. widens again. Huh. It’s rabbit skin. Oh, do it. Beautiful part, Victor. Very nice indeed. Oh, that’s good. I’ll take that forward. Yeah, absolutely. Set. Well, I had to have a go. Got me covered. Victor, I’ve got a PLD. That’s uh That one’s made for you. It is. That’s a You’ve had that for a while, though, haven’t you? He has hit some balls. This is over 5 years old. Yeah. Look at this little nice rusty patina. Right in the middle there is where he’s been hitting it. So you went and got that done. Look at Yeah. It actually ages nicer when it does, doesn’t it? Yeah. Like a little mallet putter, but most people are using it. Yeah. How’s your putting? It’s been a little bit off and on. Yeah. Cuz I’ve been grinding on my full swing. I’ve kind of neglected my putting a bit. That’s the issue. Yeah, that’s the issue. But I I in my head I believe I’m a good putter. Good. And uh most of the time I do putt pretty decent. I just need to allocate a bit more time, but uh I can’t blame this thing. It’s uh down in Phoenix, tell us all about how you got that putter. Yeah, had a chat with Tony and obviously I had uh in college I just started using a counterbalance putter and uh what Ping what we set out to do was to basically find a match uh something that’s comparable in the PLLD model compared to what I had in school. And uh what I wanted to add on top of that was the sight line on top because most people have the sight line at the bottom and I obviously have pretty fat line on on the ball as well. So I wanted to have the sight line on top and then as well it kind of helps me with the lie angle because sometimes I have a tendency to let my hands get a little too low and then the lines don’t match anymore. So it’s kind of a good reference to to set up to the marry them as one. Yeah. So yeah, it’s been good to me. I’ve had it for almost Yeah. Five and a five and a half years. Probably almost six years. So it’s going nowhere. Did that Did that renew all the cash at the FedEx? It did. Yeah. I put it so nice with that thing during the FedEx cup. What have you done with all that coin? Uh invested in some properties. That’s about it. Yeah. Fun trips. You don’t look the sort of guy that with fame and fortune, you don’t look affected. Am I right? I think we’re all going to be affected to You seem a humble guy. You don’t need big fancy things. Don’t Yeah. I’m just not interested by that stuff. Yeah. Yeah. You look And that’s how you come across to Some do. Yeah. Like I look at a Scotty. He doesn’t look kind of affected. Rory doesn’t really look affected, but And it’d be hard not to, wouldn’t it? But some do. Some get fame and fortune, and you can see that they they become affected. I won’t mention any names, but there you go. It’s a nice way to be. Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. Yeah. No, it’s a nice way to be. Preparation, Victor. I mean, how much does strengthening come into it? Nutrition and all that stuff. Yeah, I think it’s important because it gets to a point when you’re a pro, yeah, you can always get better swinging the swinging the club better, chipping and putting it better, but when the margin for error is so small and the differences between the top players are so small, I think that’s when you need to start looking at, okay, how can I eat better? How can I sleep better? How can I work out better? And they all start to play a part of how good you play. So, I’ve been very interested in it as well, trying to instead of just relying on other people to tell me what to do, I kind of want to learn it for myself so I can make my own decisions. So, what about the martial arts that you were describing on the first hole? How much does do you use that still now? I don’t use it as much. I haven’t I I basically started in first grade and I stopped in eighth grade. So, I did it for eight years, but that’s a long time ago. But I think some of the just the coordination is still in there. Some of the discipline um you know I think I think it instilled some good values and just good structure and just knowing being able to move your body is flexibility. Yeah. It’s very important. So what about Okay, I’m not going to ask you like okay what are the good things you eat. I’m going to ask you what are the bad things you have like if you if you’re with your pals or you’re all going out and where are you going? Where’s Victor off to? Chick-fil-A or what? What’s your story? Uh, I mean, I do eat healthy. I would say 90% of the time, but sometimes if you’re sometimes you’re just feeling pretty weak for a pizza, I can I can binge on some pizza. Yeah. And watching the game. Yeah. Just just or just straight up eating pizza. Not even watching anything else. Just purely focus on eating the pizza. Yeah. But not often. Not often. No. Okay. Every once in a while. Okay. What about ice cream? Not a big ice cream guy, but if you if you leave a bowl of chips out in front of me, the bowl is gone pretty quickly. Crisps. Chips. Yeah, crisps. We’re in Scotland. You’re into it. I’m into it. So, in the players lounge, when you go and you’ve got all the cakes and all that, we’re not going to see Victor over there snoring on a big chocolate. I’m pretty good with that stuff. If it’s in front of me in in like a tournament setting, I’m pretty strict with that. I’m pretty good. But if I’m at home with my buddies, all the sweets are gone. Oh, good. Yeah. Go. Go on. Give it to it. All right. Look at that view out there. This is pretty. I think uh just left of that bunker that’s basically in the middle of the fairway. Yeah. Ah. Go between them. I think it has Victor. Maybe. Yep. Maybe I got lucky. Good swing. 520 into the win. It’s kind of a beast. [Music] Oh, necked it. It’s a little low runner. Well play. Lee Travina made it to the fairway as well. [Music] All right, Victor, I’m going to hit a little soft draw here, my friend. All right, let’s see it. Hard shot for me to hit these days. I don’t know why, mate. Ah, just like riding a bike. I popped it up a bit, Victor, though, didn’t I? Yeah. I don’t think you can complain about that. At least I drew it. I just popped it a bit like that threewood. That was nice. How far you got, Victor? Got two 18 m. So, it’s about Yeah. Just under 235 yards. Just under 240. Yeah. What club you going to hit? So, Ping released this new iron here. It’s called the uh IDI. It’s a nice uh driving iron. What’s really nice about it is that it’s really easy to hit up in the air, but now we got a breeze straight into. So, I’ve got to hit like a little low bullet and chase it up there. But, it’s still really easy to do that as well. So, it’s been a it’s been a nice addition to the bag. What’s the shaft? Orange one. I’m orange one. It’s at um 280. I I’m not a shaft guy. No, the the boys in the You let the boys in the truck. I’ll let them handle it. Sorry about that. So, how long you had this in the bag? This driving iron. It’s got a Just a few weeks. Not many tournaments. I’m going to hit bullet here. Yeah. Oh, that’s pure. That is as pure. Go in. Go. It’s just a little short. Is it barely on the front edge? That was nice. Yeah. Nice. That’s a keeper. Everyone should get one of those. What’s it called again? IDI, mate. Ping. That’s his Austral. Give us the Australian accent. I can’t do it. Do it again. A ping. Idi, mate. There you go. You got a caddyy Australian. He’s mad as a box of frogs. He’s caddyy. Well, I’m playing the E grind here. What are you What do you got? I’ve always played the T grind. So, that’s kind of tends to sit nice and tight on the on the ground. Yeah. Especially on this. Less bounce. Less bounce. Uh, and especially on this like tight links turf. Yeah. Sometimes it just gets really firm. Yes. And sometimes you have to open the face. But that’s going to expose the bounce. Yes. And sometimes that just makes it sit really high. Yes, it does. And I don’t like that. I like to be able to open the face. You don’t like the ball seeing the leading edge? No, I don’t. I don’t. No. So, when it sits like that, it’s really nice and tight, and I can open the face a lot, and I can still slam it down in the ground, but it’s not going to dig a crazy amount, so I can put a lot of spin on the ball. Yeah. Your wedge is a throwback to the old days, right? Did you play that when you were Oh, absolutely. That’s why they’ve got back in the day the old eye blade. It was um This is uh Yeah, it’s exactly exactly what it was. But I’m exactly the same as you. I don’t like a serious amount. I don’t like the ball seeing the leading edge. I’m exactly like you. I think most pro golfers are. Yeah. You know, you like to sort of just clip it under there and bruise the turf, not having to like dig dig down into it, but still at the same time have some relief. Well, I tal I I spoke to your um your man um Joe Mayo. Yeah, mate. He’s a beauty. He’s a character. Yeah. He’s brilliant. Yeah, he’s smart. What What he’s Are you still working with You still work with No, I’m with Grant Weight now. Yeah. Oh, I know Grant very well. You know Grant? Yeah, I know Grant very well. Yeah, he’s What a swinger he was. Oh, pure. Have you seen pictures of it? Oh, yeah. Seen videos. He can serious He could seriously swing the club. Yeah, he can still strike. Who taught him? Huh? Who taught him? I think he was with Macy. Mac O Grady. That’s exactly right. Yeah. Oh, Grant could seriously play. Yeah. See, so I don’t fancy this shot at all. Actually felt right. That’s nice. Needs to go a little bit. Wow. Not bad. That’s That’s pretty saucy, Macy. Yeah, you’re impressing me now, Radar. No, you’re not. No, I’m not. Don’t. You’re just being nice because you’re you’re just being nice because you’re nice. Ah, man. Roll’s pure here. They are good. I tell you what, get to knock that in to be two under after three. Tell you what, you roll that thing nicely. Yeah, it feels really good. That feels They made that for me to the PL. It’s really I love it. It’s really nice. Beautiful. Let’s talk about the winds. Yep. first wins and all these animal trophies you collected. It’s been a few of them now. Yeah. One uh in Mexico or first one was Puerto Rico open. That was a nice nice crystal trophy and then uh we migrated over to Mexico and they had uh still don’t kind of forget what what animal it is. Uh reptilian looking trophy. So I won two of those. And then tigers event in Bahamas. Two tiger trophies. Yeah, I remember that. So, we were kind of on a heater there with uh collecting different animals. Uh but it’s stopped since then. Uh but it was nice memorial a couple years ago. That was the first tournament. Tell me in the US. Yeah. Tell me about the memorial to win. We all know how big it is because of the great man. Yeah. The some say some say the greatest player that’s ever lived. It’s a debate, but when it comes to majors, he is. Can’t argue. Nope. Can’t argue. How big was that win for you around such a wonderful place? Yeah, because some of those courses that I’ve won on were resorty kind of easier. Yeah. Golf courses because I could hit the ball so well I didn’t really need to chip the ball that much. But you go to a place like Memorial and it was the toughest field in golf. It was up there. You saying that you said that with great honesty. So you were aware that you were winning on resort courses. Yeah. And then you win on a big one. And you go, “Well, I can do it on a big one.” Yeah. I knew I could, but to do it is that’s what makes it cool. Yeah. That’s uh And to shake his hand on the last last hole makes it a bit more special. Yeah. What about how much do you think about winning majors? You’ve been close. Yeah. I Is it Is it It’s something that I dream of and something that motivates me, but at the end of the day, I have like I enjoy the game and the pursuit of getting better and trying to figure things out. M So if I just do that day in day out and I see results, I believe I’m going to win a major eventually. And hopefully I’ll win multiple. Yes. But for me, my mind can’t just go to thinking about winning majors when I don’t when I feel like I have not problems, but I have tasks that I need to figure out to improve. My game needs to just get a little bit better there, a little bit better here. then I can worry about winning majors or like I need to focus on that predominantly and then when I get into a major week hope that I’ve done the job and we’ll see what happens. So I got the uh the i240s here brand spankers. What are you using, Victor? Yeah, I’ve got the old ones, the i210s. Yeah. So I’m a I’m a couple iterations behind here. Oh, I just like just I’ve uh played these for a while now and um I’m just I’ve always struggled with not spinning the ball enough and for some reason these irons they just they spin the perfect amount. Not spinning the ball. That’s most people are the other way. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Too much spin. It’s just cuz I’ve because of my wrists. I have a strong grip. I tend to bow it so the club face gets quite shut and then I just hold on to it and I tend way to play. Yeah. And I get very shallow so the ball comes off very hot, kind of shoots off. But you see other guys, they usually have like a little wrist hinge and slam down on the ball and gets steeper on it, they’re going to spin the ball more. I’m kind of more on the opposite uh end of the spectrum. So you say you’re a lot more sharp. Well, that’s going to mean your distance control is going to be better than someone who’s it could be. Cuz if you’re steep, the ball can come out at different trajectories. It can uh but spin usually helps to control the distance. But uh if it’s spinning too much and it’s blowing, it can go nowhere. So it’s just finding the right sweet spot. All right. You got 127 yards. You got a wedge. I’ve got a wedge. That’s a big wedge there. Well, okay. You’re put You’re not putting a tea on it. No. In a championship, would you do this? I would. No, I would not do this. You’d hit a use a T. Use a T. Yeah. Just now we’re practicing. We’re having a good time. We are. And this is like hidden from a fairway. So, well, you’ve just been on holidays down there and you’ve had a few, you know, we we can really have a good time. We got, you know, get some music going. Yeah. Be right in my element. All right. In off the left, I’m sure you’re into bit of abber or something like that. No, that’s that’s a long time. Lady Gaga, don’t reveal your playlist here, Radar. Now we’re talking. H. Go. All right. All right. Didn’t hit it. Great. Thanks for that, though. What is it? I have no idea what this is. What is this? Your choice. So when you play this this heavy metal music that you write into so who who who’s your like who is it like what are they called death leopard and all this like that’s like hair metal stuff that’s from 70s and 80s I listen to a lot of newer stuff um I used to so my coach back in the day when I grew up he was Swedish and we used to drive to Sweden for a training camp early in the year because they had slightly better weather than we did in Norway. and he would play Iron Maiden, Metallica, Ramstein, that sort of stuff. And I’m like, “Oh, this is pretty solid. I like this.” So, I went home and I just Googled best metal songs. And then I started listening to some uh band called System of a Down. Very big band. And they had a lot more screaming to it. And the first couple times I listened to that, I’m like, I just don’t the screaming stuff. It’s hard to get past that. But then I listened to it again and again and it just clicked. I’m like, “Okay, I I think I get it. I get it now.” And since then, this just evolved into harder and harder stuff. Like, you know, back at home, like in Oklahoma, like are you walking around the lounge room giving it these ones? Like, are you are you really into it? Are you are you giving it that? If you’re by yourself, come on, tell me the You can tell you can tell Uncle Radar. Come on. What’s the story? Sometimes I mean the people that know me know that I’m in uh I’m constantly in headphones if I’m by myself constantly. I have headphones in listening to either m music or podcasts. That’s about all that I do when I’m by myself. Yeah. Oh, I heard all about this death this m headbanging stuff. Yeah. That the kids listen to nowadays. Each to their own man. Why not? Well, I grew up AC/DC being Australian Australian man. I loved it, but not anymore. I’m kind of settled down. Yeah. You got a nine? I’ve can’t hit a wedge that far. I just can’t do it. I think nine’s good for you. Pushed it a little. Yeah. Hold on. Tried to clip it and take a bit off it. Is that going to stay? Oh, tease me. Oh, it’s got to go down into that bunker. Did you see that? I think you just escaped the bunker, but you got a tough chip. Almost go. It’s quite nice actually. Well, I’m not going to chip it any closer. Go. You’re rolling it. Well, imagine being a kid here playing around here every day. Yeah, that’s lucky kids. Oh, man. Ride a cup, huh, Victor? You’re looking forward to Beth Paige? Yeah, we got to make it there first, but Oh, no. I think you’ll be all right there. What was I going cuz I’m the captain now and you’re in. Okay. Thank you. So your experience of Ryder Cup? Yeah. How much have you enjoyed it? It’s been incredible. First one we played at Whistling Straits. We obviously got smacked. Yeah. And that was um Yeah, that was an interesting experience just having all the fans root against you. Yes. That was a bit weird. Um but then playing That’s what you’re going to get in New York. Oh, 100%. But uh I think that was a uh learning experience and then coming to Rome and then feeling like you’re on top of the world and playing great golf in front of fans that are rooting for you. That was an incredible experience. But uh I think we can channel some of that into uh Beth Page and uh yeah should be good. What about what tell everyone at home what it’s like to very much professional golf you’re by yourself in your caddy but off you go bandages and everything for dinner. Okay, good on you. But once you’re out there, Yeah. you you’re you’re on your own. Yeah. What’s it like in a team environment, all of a sudden they’re all in your camp as well. How different is that? It’s cool. Uh just obviously playing professional golf is fun when you’re playing well and uh the ups are really high, but when you’re playing with people that you consider good friends, and you’re representing something way bigger than yourself, you’re representing your country, your teammates, your continent. It’s uh it’s a way bigger deal. And um yeah, I the last few times I’ve cried has been in in those team rooms. So, uh, it’s, uh, I think that, uh, that says a lot of how much it means to all of us. Has it captured the imagination, the Ryder Cup of your homeland, your your countrymen, your home? Yeah, people I think now people in general are watching more golf in Norway. Uh, and that’s really cool. And now people are, when I was home now, just a couple weeks ago, people are already talking about the RDER Cup and Beth Paige. How was that? What’s the team going to be like? And how’s it going to play? What’s the fans going to be like? So, everyone I think is uh getting really excited about it. I think Yeah, everyone’s getting excited about it. I mean, I think a lot of people about 6 months ago were going, “Well, the Americans look favorites.” But I tell you what, it’s changed. That’s changed a little, hasn’t it? That’s changed a little. But you don’t play the the competition on paper. You got to go there and make the putts and hit the paper. Doesn’t look like paper, does it? We play on grass, Victor. We play on grass, mate. Okay, Victor. This is the one. This is the one I’ve really been waiting to ask. Conspiracy theories and other powers in the world. Are we here alone, Victor? Uh, I mean, I can’t say for sure obviously, but I I like to think there’s something out there. Something weird, something explainable. It unexplainable. Uh, right now I think uh universe is just a lot crazier than we think it is. that it’s just all atoms just randomly moving around. I just don’t completely buy that story. How long have you been, you know, thinking this way when you’re a youngster? I mean, no, I’ve been uh I used to watch I’ve always been a YouTube kid. That’s kind of how I’ve grown up a little bit. If there’s things that I’m interested in, I just go down the YouTube rabbit hole. Um, but I’ve I was a big fan of uh Christopher Hitchens, uh Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, uh a lot of scientists and philosophers just uh and they were usually non-religious and I’d never had anything in my experience that would tell otherwise. But then just the last couple years just keeping an open mind into other things and then you start to question more things and then yeah, it’s I I just think it’s interesting. It’s interesting. So, what do you think’s out there, Victor? What’s Well, there’s uh there’s I could be an alien. You could be, couldn’t I? Wouldn’t surprise me. I wouldn’t put it past, you know. I could Yeah. What do you think? What do you What do you think we are the only ones here or not? I mean, I I don’t know, obviously. Um, but there’s this guy that I’ve been watching a lot on YouTube. His name is Jesse Michaels. I’ll be looking I’ll be looking him up. You should. Yeah. And actually Wenham saw him in Austin. Uh we played some golf and then we hung out later the day and he’s done a really good job just seeking out whistleblowers, uh people in government, people that just are scientists, philosophers, and just trying to get to the bottom of this. And uh yeah, it’s the when you listen to all the information out there, it’s hard to say that it’s just nothing. I don’t know what it is because it’s hard to get to something tangible. There’s so much information out there, but I I do think there’s something what it is, I don’t know. Yeah, it’s refreshing. You know, the way your outlook on life is is it’s great. It’s it’s great. I mean, people a lot of people just hide that hide or they want to they want certainty. They want to just go that oh this is more exciting thinking about. Exactly. Exactly. But it’s it could be challenging. It’s uncomfortable not knowing things for a lot of people, I think. And you is that you want to know. Are you resigned to the fact that maybe you’ll never know? Yeah, I think that’s the most likely outcome. But the pursuit of you don’t have to know everything, but the pursuit of knowing more is very satisfying. the next tomorrow if you wake up and you’re more knowledgeable than you were the day before and you realize that you had made multiple mistakes that you can rectify that should make your life better and should make it more worth living if you know more. So I just that’s kind of the attitude that I have being humble in the things that I know but if I come across better information or or better things on doing things then that that should only improve my life. Yeah. Well, Victor, you heard it first, everyone. If they come down, the aliens, Victor’s going to be standing there. He’s going to go, “Told you. Told you. Told all of you. Suck it.” It’s true though, mate, is it? Yeah. Are you going to hit it over the right trap? Well, you got three bunkers or It looks like almost four. I don’t know if I can even get past the last one. So, I’m going to just I don’t think you get past. But I reckon you can fly over though. That one on the right there. Yeah, I can do that. So, I’m just going to keep it a hair right. We’re just out of here having a whack with our drivers and stuff like that. Victor wouldn’t hit with this wind direction in the championship. He’d probably hit a probably that three thing that three on. Yeah. Tell you what, it was a pretty nice shot. Oh, it’s really good. It’s got to go through though. Yeah. Where is it? Just on the uh rough on the other side. It should be fine. Pulled it a bit. Ping. Uh, Victor, I’ve always felt I I really have. I’ve felt part of a family. Do you get that vibe? I do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Going on the truck with Kent and the lads in the in in the States, seeing the process behind the scenes, how hard they work and what they do to to accommodate what you need to play your best. That’s it’s impressive. Play your best. It’s a great, you know, saying is a slogan. It’s just it really is. But you even to go in there, you you you lose a club or or whatever, something breaks, you can get every something that is exactly the same. But I’ve always felt even honestly if I if I play in a proam or something like that and I play with a guy who’s got he’s pinged out cuz he loves it. He’s part of the family too. Yeah. So, and I feel as though a lot of you know um people people are the same. It’s nice to hear you’re you’re saying the same thing. But look, if everyone out there, we don’t care what clubs you use. But at the end of the day, if you haven’t tried ping clubs, you really are missing out. I think what’s amazing is that these clubs that I’m playing, you know, they’re they’re pretty chunky and they’re very forgiving, but you can still play these at the highest level and they’d still be good for an everyday or just a random golfer down the street. Well, the they’re getting what we’ve get. Yeah. What we’ve got. Exactly. That’s what That’s what they’re getting. Yeah. Get fit it out. Play your best. That’s it. And one other thing, too, that I uh really kind of opened my eyes when I first turned pro was because I always used to think, ah, equipment, if you hit a bad shot, it’s your fault. Your technique is bad or you made a poor swing. There’s nothing you can do. If I’m slicing at 30 yards, you know that that you got to fix your swing. But then uh the first few weeks out on the road um I realized there’s actually a lot of things you can do to improve just a little bit here, a little bit there. And um yeah, it’s uh the value of what they do. It’s it’s extremely important. Certainly is. Certainly is. That felt pretty good whether it’s on the right line. Lynx golf can’t see a thing. 127 you got Victor uphill down wind bounce Lynx Golf. Are you a fan of golf? I love it. I do. Yeah, I love it. But this Yeah, this is a tricky shot. It’s sitting down in the grass as well. It’s going to shoot. It’s going to shoot and 56 is not getting there. So, I have to kind of soft the 50. Open the face and soft it. So, it’s kind of a Yeah, you you hope for the best. You’re not having anything. Are you having anything to do with that flag right there? Uh, yeah, cuz I’ve got plenty of green or I got enough green to work with over the bunker uh before I get to the pen. Okay. So, I I’m going to aim it a hair left, but not that much. Okay. Go a bit up. Oh, that’s going to be good. I think a really good shot. That saw how weird that ball flight was. That was really good, though. I couldn’t have come down softer, though, could Oh, that was nice. That was really good. Nice touch. Oh, it was a good try, Vic. Nice half. There you go. The future for Victor Hovland. Tell us about it. Yeah, I don’t I don’t predict the future. I’m not in the business of predicting that. But uh I mean I obviously enjoy playing golf and wanting to get better and I think there’s still a lot more that I can accomplish and improve. So that’s what fuels me every day. So goals, like do you really have goals or do you just go about it and let’s just see how good as I can get? Yeah, I’m I’m not very resultsoriented. Obviously I want to win majors and win trophies. That’s cool. But at the end of the day, I enjoy hitting shots, um, having a swing or technique that’s very repeatable and something that I’m like, I I know that every day it’s going to work. I want to to in a sense it’s never going to happen, but foolproof the game of golf in a way. I want to play the game at the highest level that I can play and then whatever the results are at, that’s, you know, that’s that’s ultimately what’s going to happen. You want to play the game at the highest level you can play. Yeah. What is that level? I think it’s pretty high cuz some of the some of the tournaments that I’ve won and played great at um East Lake a couple years ago. Yeah. Jose 61 at Olympia Fields the week before. Yeah. Even playing the RDER Cup in Rome was was pretty special. And I’ve had some some moments where I don’t miss a shot and it feels like I’m going to make every putt. And when we all get into that flow state, you kind of get to see, man, I can I can play golf at a pretty high level. Yeah. And then it’s just a matter of getting there more often, day in day out. Like for example, Scotty seems to be be there every week. He tease it up. So it is possible, but um yeah, it requires a lot of hard work and and practice. But you love that. Yeah, the the challenge is fun. I enjoy it as long as you know the I will say the last year and a half I’ve been kind of banging my head against the wall a little too much and I’ve been burnt out at times when you practice so hard you think about the game constantly and you get no results that’s very frustrating. Yes, it is as for any professional golfer. Yeah. For any sports person. Yeah. Yeah. That’s hard. But uh when you start to see the the moments again I won earlier this year. I had a chance to win the US Open. That’s cool because that shows you you’re on the right track again and then it’s uh the snowballs rolling. It excites you the game, doesn’t it? It does. You really you do really love it. You’re not just good at it. You Yeah. Yeah. But when you play bad, it it sucks. Yeah, it sucks because you you care. You care so much. So when you devote so much time out of your life and it’s it’s my life’s passion. It’s not who I am, but it’s my life’s passion. And if you suck at your life’s passion, that’s that’s not cool. That like that’s not fun. That should uh that should piss you off. That is so good. Victor needs to carry. I think it will. Oh yeah. Is that on? Man, that went a lot further than I thought. You nutted that. Yeah. Look at this. Nailed it. We got some problems if you’re hitting that. I think we got some They have an issue. Nearly. It’s a nice whack. Nearly. The modernday professional Victor, he has such a large team around him and her. Um um tell us about your team. Yeah, I’ve got a little bit bigger team now than I used to. Uh in the beginning it was just kind of me and Shay and it was quite nice cuz you just kind of roll up. I knew where the ball was going and played well and you I thought it was great. But where did you find him? He’s Australian by the way. He’s one of the great caddies, great characters. So where did you where did you guys get together? So, I played a practice round with uh Ricky Fowler at Augusta when I was an amateur in 2019, right? And we had the same manager and Joe Scin, who was on the bag for Ricky, uh he catties for Levig now. Uh he told my agent that uh he suggested Shay. He just thought Sheay would be a really good fit for me. And um yeah, he was right. Uh I listened to that and gave it a go and we’ve been together ever since. What um what does an off week don’t pro golfers don’t play? How much do you play a year? 25, 24? What? Yeah, I’d say 25 is a good estimation. There you go. Um so what’s an off week look like? I mean, if I’m in Oklahoma, I I will still play a decent amount of golf because we have a good group of guys. Yes. Uh that play professionally and I’ll go to Oak Tree National and we’ll play 18 or 36 holes and talk trash and buggies or walk. We’ll uh we’ll um have buggies. Yeah. Just makes it go a lot quicker. Yeah. So, and a lot of gym. Some um I like to get a little bit I don’t if I’m going to practice all day or do a lot of work. I I want to get something in, but I don’t want a hard workout, so it affects my my practice. So, I’ll just do a little bit. Usually, we have a gym at the golf course, so it’s easier for me to just knock it out. And uh at Carson Creek, the other course, the university course, we have a sauna in there, and I’m a big sauna guy, so I try to get a sauna session in every day. Yeah, you’re into the sauna. Yeah, it’s so nice. Scandinavians, you do like a sauna. Yeah, especially the Finnish people. Yeah, a lot of studies coming out saying it’s good for you. So, saunas are really good for you. Sweating all the toxins out. Bet you maybe I should get in there. I imagine there’s a few toxins in my body. I don’t doubt that. Okay, I just wanted the winds out of the left hand side. Victor inspired me a couple of holes. Bat. I tell you what, he got it coming down so very softly. Okay, good light. Been fortunate. Pushed it a little. Shot a little on the right, but it’ll be okay. or hard pan. Yeah. I’m gonna hit like a a low nipper in there. You’re gonna have a little low grabber. Yeah. A little bit of check and then release. Mhm. Sit. Sit. You know what? I thought you played that. It’s gone by. I thought you played that perfectly. It didn’t want to bounce. It didn’t want to bounce. I checked, didn’t it? No. It took a hard bounce, but I’m not sure of that. Yep. Nearly fell over my bag. Good try. Yeah, thank you. Tell you what, you are rolling that thing. Nice. Oh, well, back in the day, my friend. The old grandfather clock. Yeah. I with the pter like you’ve got and with scissor hands. So that would have been good for your career back in the day. Oh, no. This helped. Yeah, this helped me a lot, Victor. All right, see if we can make this. Yeah, you knock that in. It’s like the trickiest putts with aim pointing. The ones that are extremely straight. Oh, Victor. Oh, there we go. Come here. Pleasure, Radar. It’s really It’s really been great. Thanks very much for coming on our show. Yeah, it’s been emotional and good luck and good and good luck uh with the career and everything. We’ll see each other around the world as we do, but um everyone’s very proud of you and your nation is and thanks for being part of Ping. Thank you. Appreciate it. Great show again. Thanks for watching around with Radar. Hey Victor, what about all these people out here? Can you believe they’ve come out to watch me? Incredible. Yeah, it’s just outrageous. Got fans everywhere. Play your best. Play your best. [Music]