Justin Thomas hands a subtle Masters warning to Viktor Hovland after Valspar Championship battle

Justin Thomas had a neck-and-neck battle with Viktor Hovland in the final round at the 2025 Valspar Championship. While Thomas was leading in the first few holes, Hovland rebounded with three birdies on the back nine, winning the tournament by one stroke.

After the contest, Thomas offered Hovland a handshake, along with a subtle warning. Thomas said in a now-viral image from NBC’s live coverage shared by GOLF.com:

"Well done. We’ll see you at Augusta"

The 2025 Masters tournament will be held from April 10 to April 13 at the iconic Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Justin Thomas said that he was "hurt" in a press conference after the tournament. He said (via ASAP Sports):

"Yeah, I mean, it's probably hard to sum it all up right now, I have a little hurt from the end there. No, I mean, I told you here, I felt like if I made this cut I was going to have a chance to win the tournament. And I had a really good chance."

In eight starts on the PGA Tour in 2025, Thomas has made eight cuts with two runner-up finishes and four top-10 finishes. Whereas, Viktor Hovland has played in six tournaments in 2025, making the cut in three and missing in three. He has one win and two top-25 finishes.

Thomas is positioned ninth in the FedEx Cup standings and Hovland is 26th. Both players will look to win on golf’s grandest stage.

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A look at Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas' past performances at the Masters

Justin Thomas will be making his 10th appearance at the Masters while Viktor Hovland will be making his sixth start at Augusta.

In the five starts at Augusta National, Hovland has made four cuts and has one top-10 finish and two top-25 finishes. His best performance came in 2023 when he tied for seventh at the tournament. He missed the cut last year.

Let's take a look at Viktor Hovland's performances at the Masters:

• 2019: T32 (285, −3)
• 2021: T21 (288, E)
• 2022: T27 (292, +4)
• 2023: T7 (282, −6)
• 2024: CUT (152, +8)

Meanwhile, Thomas has made seven cuts in the nine starts at Augusta. He has two top-10 finishes and six top-25 finishes. His best performance came in 2020 when he finished fourth at the tournament. He missed the cut last year.

Let's take a look at Justin Thomas' performances at the Masters:

• 2016: T39 (298, +10)
• 2017: T22 (290, +2)
• 2018: T17 (284, −4)
• 2019: T12 (280, −8)
• 2020: 4 (276, −12)
• 2021: T21 (288, E)
• 2022: T8 (287, −1)
• 2023: CUT (148, +4)
• 2024: CUT (151, +7)