Viktor Hovland is looking for the first Major of his career

The norwegian is one under after three rounds at Oakmont Country Club.

victor Havland even par 70 Victor obviously in a great spot here heading into Sunday What do you take away from this round pretty uh pleased with how I battled out there Didn’t get off to a great start and just kept plugging along Hit some great iron shots and made some nice putts around the turn there really nice par putt on on 15 and uh awesome birdie on 17 But uh yeah a little little bitter about my driver It’s just uh can’t can’t seem to figure it out It’s like a lingering problem all all this year So it’s uh it’s kind of pissed me off We’re going to go on the left James you talked to the PGA uh two years ago about how your strategy for the majors was to kind of wear out the fairways in the middle of the green Obviously it’s been a little bit different than that this week I guess I’m wondering like how do you feel like you’ve evolved as a golfer to be able to handle a test like this when your game isn’t quite as steady as it might have been a couple years ago just feel like I’ve matured a lot more Just seen a lot more stuff happening I know kind of what it takes to to win a major championship So I know the the shots to try to hit and what what shots not to try to hit So u feel like I’m way better equipped Just um just need to just need to get that driver sorted I’ve I’ve got the game to do it So it’s uh it’s like it’s super proud that I’m that close but it’s kind of frustrating that the driver is still just kind of holding me back a little bit What was your favorite uh of some of the hero shots you had today i mean the the pitch shot on uh 17 was was pretty sweet That was um you know I was quickly staring at bogey there if that that first or second shot doesn’t come out perfectly Um but hit seven iron hit on number nine uh that hit the pin and made a birdie there That was really nice after hitting a lot of really good shots there Um iron shot um the the nine iron I hit into five that spun back was a really nice shot Iron shot into six was really good Iron shot into seven was good Eight was really nice Nine was really nice and 10 was really nice So that that stretch was was pretty fun on the front right F Victor can you take us through number one kind of your mindset after that drive and then dropping it on the path and being able to minimize damage Yeah I mean I felt really good I had a really nice range session this morning and um hit my irons really well Three woods was really good Even the drivers were pretty nice and we had a left to right wind on the range So kind of prepared me for number one cuz it was straight off the left and just aimed it left and tried to hit a little squeeze cut out there with the wind Uh try to get it in the fairway and just got super stuck on it Hit it off the heel as well and it was an open club face and it just Yeah Sayanara We’re going to go on the left to Dylan This may be a dumb question because you have to do it literally every week but how as someone that thinks so much about you know getting your golf swing as perfect as possible do you shift into scoring mode and you know get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible you have to compartmentalize Um you know you like to work on a couple things but I know that my iron game is good enough Like it’s really really good Statistically even this year for how poorly I’ve I feel like I’ve been swinging it the iron game has been actually really really solid this year So I know that even if it doesn’t feel great I can still get over the ball and and get the ball out there somewhere I’d like to think my my golf IQ is very high So even if it doesn’t feel good and I’m not comfortable I can still play the game I I’ve never that’s I I feel like the the the way that I became good at golf was having something suboptimal that I had to play with When I was a kid I had I played with like a big slice off the tea and I couldn’t hit anything but a big slice but I learned to score with that So I think that that kind of uh sticks with you uh for the rest of your career Um and then last few years obviously my my swing’s been good I’ve been hitting a lot better shots it’s easier to score and now when I’m not swinging it as good I still have uh the capability to get the ball in the hole Center right Patrick Hi there Congratulations I’m sensing all your usual hunger and passion Thanks for sharing that with us Uh I wonder how do you assess your position where you’re at right now and how badly do you want to win one of these things called a major sure We would all like to win That’s why we practice so hard But uh there’s also like a deep passion in me that I want to hit the shots Like I want to stand up on the tea and and hit the shots that I’m envisioning And when the ball’s not doing that it bothers me Um but I I’m well aware that I’ve I’ve got a chance tomorrow and I’ve uh if I shoot a low round of golf tomorrow then you know um anything can happen But uh there’s a lot of good players around me Adam Scott played a brilliant round today just didn’t really miss a shot and and uh um you know that forces me to to play some really good golf tomorrow Just two more We’re going to go on the left Dave and Bob Yeah Uh Victor I’m I’m wondering psychologically if there isn’t I know you want to be leading but are you maybe in a in a pretty good spot where you’re you’re close enough to where you have a chance and yet you don’t really have to maybe do anything special just solid Your thoughts on that yeah I don’t know what what are they at right now i saw they were Are they all at three or four they’re all at four Oh okay Well so I’m a few shots behind but obviously I’ve got a chance And um if you would have asked me start of the week if I had a chance to win on Sunday I would have been extremely happy with that Three shots behind A lot of things can happen out here That could that could go away on one hole So but uh I don’t expect Sam or JJ to to mess it up out there They’re solid players Um I I but I uh I just need to figure out my driving put the ball in play and I I’m feeling really good about my game Last one Ryan Vic just to follow on that this is the toughest driving test you guys are going to face all year long Are you are you guiding it or are you going still full throttle at it knowing you’re sort of uncomfortable with it first first two days I wasn’t guiding it very much Um ball wasn’t quite coming out exactly what I was wanting it to but it went straight and it felt pretty good off the face So I I didn’t have to guide it too much Today didn’t feel as good And then when you start to see the ball leak a little bit right which has been my miss recently and came out today then that’s when you start to guide it a little bit more and obviously that leads to even worse shots So it’s kind of a a bad position to be in Victor we appreciate the time Good luck tomorrow Thank you