Viktor Hovland is on my TV practically every day telling me his short game has improved, that he has finally — at long last — fixed the around-the-green issues that have so vexed him over the years.
Hovland’s Ping commercial is centered around change, both for Ping’s reputation as a manufacturer of wedges and Hovland as a top-flight PGA Tour pro with a short game to match his elite ball striking. “Change,” Hovland tells the camera after hitting a Ping wedge, “feels good.”
Even a cursory glance at Hovland’s 2024 stats, however, leaves a golf fan wondering what, exactly, the well-dressed Norwegian is talking about.
Hovland, entering April, ranks 181st out of 181 qualifying PGA Tour players in strokes gained: around the green. So, I suppose there has been a change in Hovland’s game this year: He’s much, much worse chipping and operating from the sand. In other words, grinding. Despite his struggles, Hovland (+1800) maintains the third best odds behind Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler to wear the green jacket in two weeks.
The stats are damning for an otherwise-elite player who has reportedly worked tirelessly to improve his short game. Hovland, in 2024, ranks 159th in sand saves, 175th in scrambling from the rough, and is 133rd in proximity to the pin on shots within 30 yards of the green.
Hovland’s robotic tee-to-green consistency used to serve as a deodorant for his miserable short game and occasional putting struggles. The fairway-finding, pin-hunting version of Hovland is nowhere to be found this season. He is undergoing swing changes, but it appears to be a work in progress as he ranks 98th in driving accuracy and 95th in greens hit in regulation.
Through mid-March, Hovland’s strokes gained: approach sits at 110th. Though his strokes gained: off the tee remains in the top 20, his ball striking now ranks 62nd on Tour. Without that world-class ball striking, Hovland has been forced to lean on his less-than-stellar short game. And the results have been self-evident.
Barring some kind of “see-the-light moment” for Hovland over the next two weeks, his around-the-green game makes him a poor fit — to put it kindly — for Augusta National. Strokes gained: around the green is more important at Augusta than all but six courses the pros play all year. Per the metrics, Hovland is one of the worst bets on the board and certainly a candidate to fade in head-to-head matchups offered by the sportsbooks.
