Viktor Hovland + Bob MacIntyre? Inside a Potential Europe Pairing | 2025 Ryder Cup Bethpage

Viktor Hovland: “Best range session in two years.”
What finally changed in his driver swing, how he’ll handle the NY crowd, why aggression is key at Bethpage, and the Rory factor inside Europe’s team room.

#RyderCup #ViktorHovland #BethpageBlack #TeamEurope

Good morning everyone. Victor Havlin joins us now at the 2025 RDER Cup. Victor, welcome to your third RDER Cup. We’ll go ahead and jump right into questions. Starting up here with Martin. Victor, there was a lovely clip on social media last night just before you went on the stage for the opening ceremony where you said you just had your best range session in two years. How pleasing was that and what did you find? Yeah, that was obviously really, really sweet, timely. Uh um um but it came yesterday obviously uh this is a golf course you have to drive it really well and been kind of struggling with the driver but uh it’s been a rain session. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to stand on the range and just kind of beat balls fluidly effortlessly without trying to feel like I’m steering it. Uh and when I went to film it as well, it looked a little bit different. It looked definitely better than other swings that I’ve made. um lately. So that really pleased with that. I hope the weather kind of stays okay so I can continue that feel and see if it holds up cuz it’s I think we’ve all been there. We find a feel and then we think we’re we’re back and then the next day it all falls apart. So uh I’m kind of looking forward to try to test it out a little bit more today. Over to Mike too, please. Yeah. Um about the swing, I saw a clip on Instagram the other day with you working with a Gbox. Yeah. What are you still working on with your swing? Yeah. I mean, kind of the main thing is that I get a little bit stuck in the down swing. So, I’ve just been trying a lot of different training aids and stuff to maybe to see if I get a feel that will get the arms and hands a little bit more out in transition because for me, I just I just pull it down a little bit. And for me with my pattern, that’s really tough. So, just been trying to Yeah. see if that um resurrected a feel of some sort, but I I didn’t really find that that was the the missing piece for me. Okay. Also, yesterday Ludvig said that you like to talk about UFOs. Uh what’s up with that? What’s up with that? Yeah, that’s that’s the question, isn’t it? What What is up with that? Um Um Yeah, it’s just something that I’ve been into the last couple years. Um, I think, uh, I’ve always been extremely into my golf and sometimes you just look at your golf swing and trying to practice as hard and you don’t really get the results that you want, it can be quite frustrating. And I think it’s been one of those things that I’ve kind of um, taken my mind off of golf a little bit. And then the the more you go into it, you just get more questions. It’s one of those things that you don’t really find any more answers, but it’s very interesting to to go in there and and kind of challenge some of your uh beliefs that you currently hold. And you kind of have to expand your expand your mind a little bit and and I think it’s super fascinating because it u encompasses or touches on so many different topics as well that I u I find it really interesting. Over to Luke on one. Hey, Victor. Um, you were saying something on the range yesterday, I’m just trying to understand it, where, um, sometimes when you get tentative or it’s hard to trust it on the golf course, your takeaway gets a little armsy maybe, and you want to feel like you’re extending and really whipping the club away. I’m just trying to understand that. Yeah. I don’t want to go too far deep into the golf swing, but it’s it’s just the golf swing just seems so counterintuitive and almost paradoxical sometimes where I know if I look at my 3D data like I I rotate way faster and way more than I used to do when I first came out on tour. Some of that is because I’m hitting it further, I’ve got more speed, I’m more dynamic. So then by that data I’ve tried to almost slow down and not rotate as much off the ball, but then what I do is that I just spin open. So uh it was almost a little counterintuitive yesterday where I felt almost more dynamic off the ball, but instead of spinning around, I was moving more up and back. So it almost kept kept me more centered and more still. And from there, I can actually uh use my body like I used to before and not get it stuck. So, um, yeah, it’s that’s this game. It’s so fickle. You try to do something the opposite of what you’re doing, but, um, sometimes that’s not the the answer. So, it’s just it’s very elusive. Up top there, Mike 16. Victor, you are generally one of the more popular players on tour. How do you prepare for fans that might be actively rooting against you this week? I I think you just got to stick to your to your game and if you play well and um you know there’s going to be some some comments here and there uh they won’t really uh come close to the the thoughts that I have in my own head. So I think I’ll just laugh it off for the most part. Um you know and just try to smile it off and make a few birdies. That usually uh seems to do the trick right here. Mark. Hey, Victor. Can you put into words uh what Rory means to this team? Yeah, how long we got? Uh he’s uh he’s obviously a great player and very um very skilled, very experienced, but also he carries a lot of weight in the team room as well. He’s um he’s very comforting to have there. He makes everyone in the team room feel good, and I think he brings out the best in everyone in there. So, it’s uh it’s great to have a person like that in the team room for sure. What was your reaction two years ago when he did the microphone drop pretty much in Rome and said, you know, said you guys are going to come out and win in Beth Page. What was what was the reaction to that? Pretty pumped. Yeah. Here we are. Let’s do it. Over to Kyle on nine. I’ uh over here, Victor, I’d love to see what it looks like for you to actually go deep into the golf swing. Uh after that explanation, uh you were on the last two teams, one loss, one win. When you guys talk about strategy, talk about handling this experience, do you draw more or have did you learn more from the loss on American soil or from the win over in Europe? Good question. I I don’t know which one I learned more from, but it was very just interesting from my own personal experience kind of going through the loss at Whistling Straits. I felt like I was maybe more timid as a rookie playing on foreign soil. Um I I think I played just a bit more insecure maybe, but after 2023, my best season of my career, I felt just more excitement and obviously playing at home, I just felt ready to exhibit kind of what I’ how I’d played throughout that year. And I wasn’t as much nervous as in terms of messing up. It was more like, okay, I’m ready for this and I’m going to show what I’m good good for. And uh I think now that I’ve kind of seen both perspectives, even though I’ve had some major struggles with my with my game the last couple years, I feel like despite that, I can still overcome that and and play some really good golf. So, I do feel like being on both of those teams have really helped me. Um uh it is it is going to help me this week. Back up over here to Mike 20. Victor, I wouldn’t expect you to give away the secrets of the captain, but I think that’s three days in a row now. You’ll be paired alongside Robert McIntyre in practice. If that happens to be a pairing over the the first two days, give us an insight on the personality sets, the two you’ve got that you think will work. Yeah, played a bunch with with Bob uh over the past few years. We obviously came came out at a similar time and uh we played some junior golf and amateur golf together. So get along great with Bob. He’s obviously a great player and had an amazing year this year and uh yeah, I think we really vibe well off of each other and uh we’ve had some good games here the last couple weeks. So um yeah, it’ be fun. We’ll see what happens, but I think we’d make a good team. Mike 19. Hi Victor Buck here. um with the atrocious weather seemingly setting for the day. Have you been told how that might affect practice today? Do you think you guys will get out on the course and if not how you try and you know replicate and what will you do? Yeah, I don’t know what what’s going to happen. I don’t know if they’ve uh closed the practice area or not. Hopefully I can practice for a little bit and maybe go out there and play four or five holes at least. I’d like to kind of see how what I’m doing on the range will hold up on the golf course and just get a bit more comfortable. So hopefully uh it stays clear there for a little bit and also for the remainder of the week. You don’t want the course to be uh uh too soggy either. Um so we’ll see. And how will that affect things if you’re not able to get out on the course, you know, the day before? Uh I mean, it’s not ideal, but it wouldn’t be the last time something like that has happened. I’d like to think I’m a professional and can can handle situations like this. So yeah, we’ll figure it out. We’ll wrap it up with Dylan over here on one. How much do you pay attention to uh what position your opponent is in in match play and how how much does your strategy deviate say if they’re out of position? I think it it definitely does matter, but on the golf course like this probably less so because it’s I mean the fairways aren’t super wide. They’re not super narrow either, but the rough is so thin that even if you spray a shot off the tea, you can’t really go, “Okay, he’s way out of position. Let’s just play conservative here.” Cuz if you get lucky and have a nice lie, uh you can you can easily make birdie from from out of position here. So, I think aggressiveness is probably going to be a a good strategy. You’re still just going to have to execute and and play like you’re trying to birdie almost every hole. And then obviously if you miss, you’re still in the hole. Um cuz I don’t think there’ll be too many holes compared to maybe Rome for example. Rome had a lot of birdie holes, but at the same time it had a lot of difficult holes where you could easily win by par. I think it’s going to be less of that this week. Um so I I think if you just stay prudent and and just execute and uh kind of let the opponents maybe make a couple extra bogeies, then I think uh that’s the way to go. Do you have a general philosophical stance on lift clean in place? I mean, I I think it’s uh I think it’s the right thing to do if it gets uh super, you know, super wet out there and it’s just mud bottle on every hole. I don’t think that’s what the people want to see. I I think it’s maybe another discussion whether we’re going to have a club length or a scorecard. Usually in Europe, we have a scorecard. Uh in the US, we have a club length. I think that can maybe influence how we play a little too much, especially around the greens and in terms of angles and stuff. Um, but I I think it is kind of necessary if you’re getting mud balls in every hole. I just I just don’t think that’s great TV. Thanks for your time, Victor. We appreciate it.