OSU alum and #4 golfer in the world Viktor Hovland joins the premiere of The Scott Verplank Show

Scott Verplank kicked off his new show on Sellout Crowd by bringing in one of the top golfers in the world.

Verplank visited with Viktor Hovland, the No. 4-ranked golfer in the world and winner of three events last season. What did Hovland, a former standout at Oklahoma State, think of his epic season?

“I feel like 2023 was a big year of development. I figured out some stuff that I hadn’t figured out before,” Hovland told Verplank.

The pair talked about the best aspects of Hovland’s game, how he got his start in golf (including how Tiger Woods inspired a young Hovland back in Norway) and how he’s adjusting to his new home in South Florida.

Verplank will be talking to top pro golfers from the past and present on his Sellout Crowd show, sponsored by EMAQ (https://emaqgroup.com/)

🏌️ Scott Verplank on Twitter/X: www.twitter.com/scottverplank
🏌️ Scott Verplank on Instagram: www.instagram.com/scott_verplank
🏌️ Viktor Hovland on Instagram: www.instagram.com/viktor_hovland

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
01:00 Reflecting on the Past Year
02:25 Improving Chipping Technique
05:05 The Importance of a Strong Short Game
07:25 Growing Up in Norway and Getting into Golf
09:23 Inspiration from Tiger Woods
10:32 Redesigning Karsten Creek Golf Course
11:37 Reflecting on the PGA Championship
13:16 Learning from Setbacks
16:40 The Excitement of the Ryder Cup
19:20 Looking Forward to Future Ryder Cups
19:44 Discussion on the State of the PGA Tour
22:47 Desire for Improvement in the PGA Tour
23:25 The Importance of a Strong Caddy
25:02 Preparing for the Masters
26:13 Exploring South Florida Hobbies
27:59 Closing Remarks

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane

I’m Barry traml with sellout crowd and I’m proud to announc that Scott verplank has joined our Network and this is the first episode of the Scott verplank show verplank was long horn bread but chose Oklahoma State instead and has made his golfing life in Oklahoma he’s won NCA

Championships the US amateur Ridder cut matches and a most emotional Byron Nelson class CL and he’s debuting his show with a fellow OSU Phenom Victor havlin who also won a US Amer and has won five times on the PGA tour including the 2023 FedEx Championship the Scot plank show is

Sponsored by emac group emac is environmental microbial and air quality Solutions if you suspect you have mold or air quality issues emac provides the solutions find out more at em.com now here’s Scott and Victor welcome to my very first podcast with my special guest Victor havlin so Victor

You’re going to be my ultimate guinea pig here since I’ve been on your side of the camera but never on this side so you get to I get to ask the questions you get to make the answers so thanks for being on yeah uh honor to be your first

Guest Scott Let’s uh let’s have a good time hey um it’s I always have a good time around you Victor’s always smiling uh makes everybody happy around him and on top of that he’s one of the best two or three or four players in the world um

And you could see that coming for a while here uh being a young golfer at Oklahoma State he kind of set the world on fire won the US Amer which really set him up well um and he’s gone on uh just improving every year uh won the Tour

Championship last year so won the FedEx Cup and Victor you got to feel good going into this year um tell me what’s going on yeah not a whole lot obviously uh it was nice to have a little bit of a break after last year uh it was a lot of golf

And a lot of good golf from from my point of view um and it was nice to just have a few weeks off I was in Norway over the break uh and just uh relax and think about what what just happened uh but also lay a good plan going forward

Um to to keep playing at that level cuz um I feel like 2023 was a big year of uh just development I figured out some stuff that I hadn’t figured out before uh but I also do feel like my ball striking can can still get better uh it

Hasn’t quite been as sharp as I’d like to right now so so just trying to get that dialed in um but uh you know this game of golf will will’ll drive you nuts there’s always something you can improve and uh that’s just what I’m focusing on

Yeah if you play golf for a living you’re going to have some mental imbalance going at different times or another there’s there’s no way around it hey tell me uh your chipping has improved so much I know you worked really hard with Joe Mayo um is there in

Layman’s terms can you can you explain kind of like what you did differently I I kind of know what you were doing before and it looks to me like you simplified it and really kind of got it down so can you can you tell us all what you’re

Yeah try to not make it too complicated um it’s basically what I’ve always been told is okay you need to use the balance of the club in um in just normal chips and and basic CH uh pitching and my my in my golf swing I have a very shut Club face because my

Left wrist kind of bows in the back swing um and I always thought that was a problem because now the club is shut there’s not that much loft and then I’m going to have to throw that and release it out to try to hit good chip shots now

Joe basically just explained to me that hey look at Jordan Speed look at Brooks Kea look at DJ uh they all had the same wrist pattern uh and they don’t twist the face open in the back swing and they they were number one in the world uh they

Have good short games so the way that he explained it to me was that by trying to kind of release um the angle a little bit too early I couldn’t really do it because my body was was so far behind so I had a very shallow angle of attack I was

Getting into the ball too shallow and what happens then especially when you have bad lies there’s just more stuff that can get in between the club face and the ball and it’s just it’s very difficult to uh to produce a lot of spin or friction on the golf ball so

What he basically just taught me how to do was was to move my head and my upper body forward towards the pen which is very counterintuitive because it feels like you’re going to hit it straight down into the ground which I am um but I’m so now I’m getting very steeply on

The ball but then what’s amazing is when you get forward it’s a lot easier for me to release uh the angle a little bit sooner but I’m still having a lot of shaftan and that’s what he basically told me most the best chippers and pitchers in the world they

Have about 15 degrees of shaftline which is a lot but I’m at least when I’m moving forward as much I’m in a way better spot to deliver the club instead of when I’m back here and I lean the the handle forward now the ball’s coming off like a driver which is

Why I’m a good driver of the ball because uh this is a technique that’s very good for hitting the ball fast in the short game you want to slow the ball down well that is uh for all the golf Geeks they’re going to love that Victor

Um for the for me you’re just staying steadier over the ball and it looks to me like you got a little more weight on your left side and it’s it’s improved so much that I heard the United States rder Cup team one of the one of the uh MERS

Said we knew we’re in trouble when a guy who can’t chip chipped in on the first toll and I was like I was like what the problem with that is the guy can chip now if that was maybe two years ago it wasn’t quite so good but uh now you’re

Now you’re upper echelon maybe top 10 or 15 and and kind of getting the ball up and down so what a great asset for your game um I think that’s one of the reasons that you’ve played a lot better than last year now you you may think

Differently but looks to me like when you you know you can go up Flags when you know you can get up and down yeah it it’s um it it makes the game a lot easier just mentally as well I’m a lot less exhausted after Round Golf because

I know that okay I can actually like there’s been some spurs where okay my swing isn’t feeling as good as it should or you know we play some tough courses and you might miss four Greens in a row and it’s not a big deal because I can

Get those four up and downs and I’m still even par then I might make a birdie on the next hole and we’re back in back in business whereas before you know I missed four greens maybe that’s too bogeys and I might be out of the tournament or you’re you’re you’re

Moving the wrong direction so it’s just over 72 holes you’re going to have some bad swings and you’re going to hit some bad shots uh but it’s it’s a matter of missing in the right spots and when you give yourself just relatively simple up and downs you could you should be making

Uh pars a lot uh and that’s what I what I noticed I was just uh giving everyone a huge Advantage every time I missed a green and um some of those courses when the greens get really firm and fast a good ball striking day you might

Hit 12 greens and that’s still six times you have to chip yeah well you definitely have cleaned that up and it’s made a huge difference so I I want to change subjects real quick so tell me about growing up in Norway and how did you get into

Golf yeah my uh my dad actually worked in uh Kansas City uh Missouri uh when I was about 3 years old and uh he worked there for about six months and uh drove by a driving ran every day on the way to work and um when it was time for him to

Come home he just bought a golf set and and shipped it back home and that’s kind of how I got started um yeah about four years old wow so is there a lot of golf courses in Norway I think uh I think there’s about like 90 90 golf courses or something uh

Or maybe there’s more I I can’t quite remember but uh a lot of them are nine-hole golf courses and they’re not in the best shape because we got snow four or five months of the year um but uh so growing up until I was

Maybe 11 or 12 I would do I I would play soccer um with my um with my friends in school and then we would uh or I would also do taekwon toe so martial arts but when I was 11 or 12 I decided hey I I

Kind of want to practice indoors in the winter time because I would just play in the summer and then when it got cold outside I would just not play um but that’s when I I figured I’d like to to kind of keep improving at this game well

That it’s worked did you have someone that you kind of looked up to that gave you inspiration was it like everybody else Tiger Woods yeah pretty pretty much I I remember grew up kind of just when YouTube came out and um all all of his highlight videos were were on there so I

Remember I would sit up at you know after school just watching highlights uh and just becoming really inspired and um you know not just winning but the way he did it the fist pumps just the Charisma the golf swing hitting it past everyone I thought it was uh I thought it was

Pretty cool to watch well yeah it was definitely mustsee TV um kind kind of still is so no Nordic skiing or any like telemarking or shooting rifles during a snowstorm you didn’t do any of that uh I I think every Norwegian um you know CrossCountry skis I think you’re not a Norwegian if

You don’t ski it’s the same we’re we’re born with skis on our feet um but I’m not the biggest fan of cross country skiing I would uh I I enjoyed more of the downhill skiing um so that was a lot of fun I would do that in the winter um

But then I realized that okay the more and more I go to because we have a cabin a couple hours away from uh oo and we would go there and ski in the weekends but I would much rather just stay in oo and hit balls into this hanger so that I

Could practice my golf game so that’s kind of what ended up happening well so when was the last time you skied I can’t even remember uh it have to be more than 10 years oh yeah cross country skiing it’s probably five years but um yeah I don’t do much of both yeah

Well I you probably I think you made a good choice not to say you wouldn’t be a world champion downhill skier I could just see Victor havin uh winner of the World Championship downhill and the giant slom yeah probably not I’m glad I’m glad you played golf though since you went to

Oklahoma State and helped them the national championship um hey what do you think about have you seen much with what’s going on at carsten Creek in still water with redoing the golf course it’s uh it’s been a while since I was last there um I think it was a couple

Months ago I was last in Oklahoma and um just driving I just drove into Carson and uh just looking out of the car uh I didn’t really go out and check the whole uh view out but it looked vastly different a lot of trees were taken out

Um and I think uh just talking to Andrew Green a little bit coach holder coach Braden uh you know just picking their brains a little bit it sounds like this is going to be a big change and I think it’s going to be really cool uh so I can’t

Wait for it to be done and and go back and play yeah no I I agree um the redo that Andrew Green did at Oak Hill where yeah consequently you finished second in the PGA last year I thought it was an excellent job so if if he does uh

Anywhere close to how good a job he did at Oak Hill at Carston Creek then it should be pretty special so um I’d agree with that speaking of that oakill I mean you were right there with Brooks um and just an unfortunate tell the bunker shot you hit

On on 16 out of the Fairway bunker did you hit it thin or did you did it just come off low yeah I I I hit it slightly thin so it was on the down slow hate to bring up hate to bring up no it’s it’s all right but you’re be better because

Of yeah uh it was on the down slope it was sitting down a little bit and I hit a nine iron and obviously the the number one thing in the Fairway bunker you want to hit the ball first uh but when it’s sitting down and

It’s in a bad lie you kind of have to like a little bit with a short game you try to cover it a little bit more you try to get a little steeper on it which is also going to make it launch lower but you try to trade that off for better contact

And then I hit it slightly thin and just came out too low now you know uh that can happen easily obviously it could have uh you know just maybe bounced out of the bunker and ended up in the Fairway I might make it up and down for

A par or worst case it might still be in the bunker well at least I hope for a better line I can still make a par right um but uh it when it ends up plugging the in the lip of the bunker that’s uh that’s obviously pretty devastating yeah

Golf is uh golf is cruel it’s and it’s prettyy pretty humbling but but you recovered greatly went on to play some of the best golf that anybody’s played in a long time near the end of the year particularly went in the last couple of events and shooting you know just gobs

Under par so uh it was probably a good learning experience for you I would I would think and you you sucked it up and said I’m going going to keep going so that’s one of the things that I think is really impressive about you is you’re not letting anything bother you um and

And you’re going forward with a great attitude that makes I mean that that’s everything so that’s what I’m looking for for you for the next few years um as you ascend to winning some of these big tournaments yeah no it was uh obviously it was a punching the teeth but I try to

Focus on all the positives that I done you know the fact that I was there in the last group against Brooks kka um and I managed to you know obviously the double big gun 16 hurt but I managed to go toe-to-toe with them the whole day I

Mean the guy was I think it was four under through five holes it wasn’t like he uh he uh you know we both played kind of average and I had a chance to win we both played some great golf uh the whole day and trading putts for putts and

Birdies for birdies and um you know uh a little unfortunate they’re on 16 but I took a lot of positives out of not just that day but the whole week and I knew that okay the way that I’m playing right now the uh the way my short game is if I

Just keep doing this I’m going to I’m going to win some tournaments so it’s like it sucked that it happened in the final round of the PGA under the like in that way that always sucks and you could you’re always going to think back that I

I should have had that one whatever but you can’t think that way in the in the game of golf you know sometimes you win in a playoff sometimes you lip in a putt and he goes your way sometimes he goes your way sometimes it doesn’t but if you

Keep working on the overall good things and you continue to get better you’re going to get some wins in the end so um yeah it sucks but um it’s a learning experience and I hope I win some more coming um the next couple years oh yeah

I I think you will you know that’s funny that tournament um that was the first time that I really kind of felt like I had confidence in you chipping the ball I don’t know I’m sure it was coming on uh before that but I remember talking to

You there and then I was doing some television for ESPN there and getting to see you on you know on calling shots and I was it I was like man this guy has really really got the chipping stuff down now and I know it may have been

Before that but once you once you perform in a big tournament I know it a terrible terrible finish uh but you got better for it but that’s when I knew that your short game was really you’d made massive strides cuz you’re on the biggest stage and hitting kind of shots

That a year or two ago you would have been throwing up on yep so um that’s that’s where that that’s when I knew you were really really on your way so that’s awesome all right tell me how great was the Ridder cup yeah um that was that was pretty

Sweet um obviously for for me it was a completely different experience from uh whistling Whistling Straits getting getting waxed uh on us soil uh with hardly any European fans there because of co uh you know obviously being a rookie and I think going into an atmosphere like that which is very

Hostile and you have some insecurities in there with your game mainly the the chipping and I didn’t really putt that well uh that week either um I think it’s just that stuff just comes out way more easily uh when you’re under those circumstances and this time around we’re were at home

I was hitting the ball well um my chipping was was great uh and I just felt like I wasn’t that nervous I was more just excited I was pumped to to play and chip in on the first hole and and uh we have a massive lead from the

Start and just lead the whole way it it it I don’t think it could have been a much better week for for us like we couldn’t script it any better I don’t think no that’s kind of the way it looked I mean that you had the like you

Said the massive crowd uh the Europeans were playing well and you just kind of took the wave and wrote it um but is that the writer cup is just the coolest event to play in um with the big crowds I mean it’s it’s hard not to I was kind

Of like uh what you said I was I played a couple and I was never nervous I was just too pumped up to be nervous I was so excited to get to basically play in the Super Bowl a golf yeah um it’s just the coolest event um unfortunately I

Played in Europe twice and we lost both times but losing losing sucked but playing in the event was off the chart so I I know you got to be looking forward to playing in another big handful of those at least yeah we’ve uh Europe has had a good record in in uh at

Home for the last uh 30 something years now so uh we’re very proud of that obviously uh but I think it’s time for us to to come to New York and uh and um prove everyone what we’ve got because uh we were we were definitely The Underdogs

And I think a year prior to the Ridder cup we were written off as oh they got no chance and and uh we we came back and and showed everyone what how we can play and um I um I want us to go out there

And and do the same thing in in New York well I I know you do um are are you gonna are you going to help Rory get John ROM on the team that’s that’s GNA be a big right there boy no on yeah I don’t know how that’s I don’t know how

That’s going to work but uh I would if I was European team I’d want John ROM on my team as well so yeah we hey we just want the best players to be on the team that’s that’s it it’s that simple and I think that’s what most people in golf

Want to see is all the best guys playing particularly you know that that event the writer Cup’s such an exciting amazing event that you need all the best players yep let me ask you I you did a Norwegian podcast and you made some comments um about the tour

Have you gotten any blowback from that uh I mean blowback as in I didn’t get too many messages I didn’t look online to see what the comments were well well from other from other players I didn’t get too many I got a couple text messages um and mostly they were in

Support I don’t think uh people would text me if they were disagreeing but uh I got some support so I I appreciate that but at the end of the day I just uh try to speak my mind say my opinions whether that’s going to be uh given a

Good reception or a bad reception that’s just I was asked the questions and I I’m going to answer honestly uh from my point of view um and uh that’s that I didn’t really anticipate it blowing up as much as it did because it was on a Norwegian podcast but um I guess that’s

That’s uh that’s just how it is uh everything you say uh um you know it gets out there well yeah I guess what I meant by blowback was with from the PGA Tour I would I would presume that the players would support what you said um I’m like

You the truth’s hard to hide um if you look at it from a player’s perspective I think you were right um and sometimes you know you just like you said you got to tell the truth um this is how it’s been the the it’s all laid out there for everybody to see um

It has not gone well uh at least for the World of Golf but I would I guess my point was have you got any blowback from the actual PGA Tour offices because I know players would support your support your uh your opinions yeah I I have not I haven’t

Talked to anyone in particular all I’ve only played one tournament in in Hawaii uh since I made the comments so um but no I mean it’s yeah that’s thing truth and then like I’m not trying to just say these comments to dog on the tour like I want us first I want to

Improve the tour and we need to get together and talk collectively about how we go about that business but first of all we need to get the facts out in the open we we need transparency and we need to talk about okay this has not been

Handled in a good way okay that’s fine but let’s talk about the road uh forward how do we how do we move past this and make pjj tour uh the best product it can be because I I it is great but it could be a lot

Better yeah I agree I I you know what you got a good head on your shoulders for a a young guy who’s going to have a lot of say in what’s going on on so that as an old guy that makes me feel better

That uh I know I know there’s at least a couple guys that are thinking clearly in this deal so so good for you but don’t let that get in the way of being a world class kickass golfer because that’s what you are um don’t let the don’t let the

Off- thec course stuff drag you down I know you’ve been told that by people smarter than me um but you’re doing so good um I gotta ask you about Shay Knight he’s been a great caddy for you hadn’t he he’s the man he’s uh he’s what uh keeps

The six from uh keep the ship from sinking certain times so yeah he’s uh he’s like I’ve said this to other people like he’s uh he’s a great caddy but I think he’s a he’s an even better person and uh he’s just someone that I enjoy being around I can trust him

Wholeheartedly and that’s the most important thing when you have someone out there on the bag um but on top of that it helps obviously when he’s a great caddy and works harder than any other person that I’ve seen so um have uh nothing bad uh to say about Shay he’s

He’s just a man yeah no I knew you wouldn’t he he’s an excellent caddy but it’s it’s hard to explain that relationship because you really spend as much or more time with him than you do anybody else um you know if you like my wife used to complain that well I spent

More time with my caddy than with her and I was like well but I love you now I don’t love him there’s a distinction there yeah there is a distinction but yeah it’s a it’s really important to have a great relationship um on the course and off

The course so you and Shay um I know Shay a little bit great guy it’s really it’s it’s a big benefit that you guys are good friends um and going forward I think that’ll be beneficial to both of you no 100% all right you do anything special

To get ready for uh leading up to the Masters uh looks like the schedule’s going to we’re going to play a decent amount of golf uh so I’m getting ready actually go to the West Coast and here in a couple of days get ready I play

Three weeks in a row and then we obviously go over to uh Florida um and play um still trying to figure out exactly what tournaments that I’ll play but it seems like there’s going to be a decent amount and just trying to uh get the ball striking kind of

Where it needs to be because I’m I’m feeling really good with my short game I’m I’m putting it really well uh just trying to iron out a couple of Kings that’s crept in there but um that’s about it nothing nothing in particular I feel like if I just if I just get to

Where my game feels good I know that I can I can win at a gusta I can win at uh any golf course uh but it needs to just get back to where it needs to be yeah no doubt uh you can definitely win anywhere all right I know you’re spending a

Little more time in South Florida now have you picked up any South faridian Hobbies or anything are you surfing or fishing or swimming more you doing anything in you’re in your downtime or do you have any downtime uh yeah I’m I’m not a big beach

Person to be honest with you um I’m more of a mountain guy growing up in Norway um but they do have obviously some state parks here and stuff that I’d like to check out I’ve uh just scrolling on YouTube I I didn’t really know how big fossil hunting was around here um like

Uh because obviously Florida was uh submerged in water and and with the ice Ag and stuff you can you can find fossils from a long time ago or you can find Megalodon teeth or Millions years old like I’m just fascinated with that stuff so uh maybe maybe uh maybe it’s

Some point I’d love to go there uh go out there and find me some Megalodon teeth that’d be sweet there you go yeah the shark teeth is always when my kids were little were when you’re running up and down the East Coast playing golf yeah shark te shark teeth hunting was

Always a big deal but uh a megadon tooth that would be pretty amazing yeah but then forget the you go over if you go to the Everglades if you go to the Everglades looking for fossils they got those giant snakes over there I know I

Might not come back yeah so you got to be really careful and like I don’t know what I guess people let those big snakes go and then they show these pictures of these 30 foot boa constrictors so be careful if you go looking for uh fossils

In in that part of South Florida yeah um hey Victor uh you’ve been a great first guest I hope I was not too tough on I wasn’t tough on you but I hope I wasn’t too too uh wordy for you but dude you know um we everybody from oklah State

Loves you and is pulling for you and we’re all proud that you’re part of the OSU golf team and uh we all every single one of us knows you’re already a superstar so we’re uh looking for more from you and U I can’t wait to run into

You again here in a at the worst at the Masters I’ll see you but um man keep keep doing what you’re doing play great keep that smile on your face and thank you so much for uh spending the time with me yeah anytime Scott I got a I got

Time anytime for you so thanks for having me on and uh hope everything goes well with the podcast all right thanks Victor you’re the best thanks for joining us on this first episode of the Scott verplank show remember you can now access us via the sellout crowd app just

Go to the App Store and search sellout crowd and if this is your first time hearing or watching the show be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube or your favorite podcast app and if you like what you hear please leave a Review