Viktor Hovland details the possibility of a title defense at the Memorial Tournament 2024 - “This golf course is so penal"

Ahead of the 2024 U.S. Open, The Memorial Tournament is the next big thing golf fans are looking forward to. The tournament played at the Muirfield Golf Club from June 6-9 will feature some of the biggest names in the sport along with last year's champion, Viktor Hovland.

Ahead of this year's edition, Hovland spoke about the possibility of defending his title. He said that over the last few weeks, he has noticed improvements in his game. Hovland also noted that the Muirfield Golf Club is one of the toughest golf courses.

"I feel like my game has improved since then, a couple weeks ago, which has been been really nice. Obviously, this is one of the toughest golf course we play all year. And you can still play good golf but if you miss it in the wrong spots you're going to make some double bogeys and stuff.

So I think as long as I hit the shots that I want to hit I'm going to be pretty happy. But I think a lot of it boils down to a game plan and where you're missing it, 'cause this golf course is so penal." [1:21]

The 2023 Memorial Tournament Champion also described the previous year and his journey in golf. Hovland said that while there have been ups and downs, the journey has been 'cool'.

"Pretty up and down. But it's been really cool. Obviously winning BMW and at East Lake, Ryder Cup it's been so much cool stuff. That's been happening the last year or so just excited to keep it going."

The last time Viktor Hovland played on the PGA Tour was at the 2023 PGA Championship, where he finished in third place.

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Exploring what time Viktor Hovland and other golfers will tee off at the 2024 Memorial Tournament

At the 2024 Memorial Tournament, Viktor Hovland will tee off at 10:20 AM (ET). He is paired with Xander Schauffele. Here is the complete list of the tee-off times for the 2024 Memorial Tournament:

1st tee

• 7:40 AM - Davis Thompson
• 7:50 AM - Stephan Jaeger, Peter Malnati
• 8:00 AM - Nick Dunlap, Matt Kuchar
• 8:10 AM - Jake Knapp, Ben Griffin
• 8:20 AM - Brendon Todd, Byeong Hun An
• 8:30 AM - Lucas Glover, Emiliano Grillo
• 8:40 AM - Sungjae Im, Andrew Putnam
• 8:55 AM - Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick
• 9:05 AM - Adam Schenk, Eric Cole
• 9:15 AM - Tom Kim, Denny McCarthy
• 9:25 AM - Adam Svensson, Cameron Young
• 9:35 AM - Tom Hoge, Cam Davis
• 9:45 AM - Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
• 9:55 AM - Si Woo Kim, Mackenzie Hughes
• 10:05 AM - Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay
• 10:20 AM - Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland
• 10:30 AM - Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Åberg
• 10:40 AM - Billy Horschel, Will Zalatoris
• 10:50 AM - Akshay Bhatia, Matthieu Pavon
• 11 AM - Chris Gotterup, Victor Perez
• 11:10 AM - Alex Noren, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 11:20 AM - Austin Eckroat, Thomas Detry
• 11:35 AM - Sam Burns, Adam Hadwin
• 11:45 AM - Tony Finau, Patrick Rodgers
• 11:55 AM - Sahith Theegala, Russell Henley
• 12:05 PM - Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood
• 12:15 PM - Lee Hodges, J.T. Poston
• 12:25 PM - Nick Taylor, Taylor Moore
• 12:35 PM - Sepp Straka, Kurt Kitayama
• 12:45 PM - Corey Conners, Seamus Power
• 1:00 PM - Rickie Fowler, Max Homa
• 1:10 PM - Jason Day, Justin Rose
• 1:20 PM - Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas
• 1:30 PM - Brian Harman, Jordan Spieth
• 1:40 PM - Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa
• 1:50 PM - Davis Riley, Taylor Pendrith
• 2:00 PM - Brandt Snedeker, Jackson Koivun (a)

The tee-off times for Round 2 of the 2024 Memorial Tournament will be updated after the conclusion of Round 1.