Viktor Hovland gets honest about his severity toward himself: "That's why I'm good"

PGA Tour star Viktor Hovland is competing in the 2025 Valspar Championship at Copperhead Course. Following a great performance in the second round of the tournament, Hovland shared the reason why he’s good at his game.

Hovland, who turned pro in 2019, has six PGA Tour wins to his credit. He lifted the trophy at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship in 2023 and also won the Memorial Tournament that same year. The 27-year-old golfer is competing against players such as Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele in the Valspar Championship.

After the first round of the tournament, the Oslo-born golfer was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard; however, he carded a score of 67 in round two and shot up the leaderboard, climbing to T2. In a post-round interview, he told the PGA Tour he’s a good golfer because he’s hard on himself.

“I am hard on myself, yeah. But that’s also why I’m good. If I wasn’t hard on myself, I’d be, you know, I probably wouldn’t be out here… I know that even with terrible mechanics I can still get out here and shoot a couple of nice scores but that can also lead to 80 shots at the Players. You know, because it’s just, I don’t have control over what I’m doing,” Hovland said. (Via PGA Tour)

Hovland also mentioned that the difficulty level of the golf courses also affects the outcome of his game.

“So you get to a place where there’s water and trees on every hole , you know, those same shots that might be in the fairway might be in the rough at an easier golf course… In the long run it’s going to cost you... If I’m standing over the ball and I’m expecting it to start there, everything in my golf swing is feeling like it’s going to start there, but then it starts there, and goes to the right, you can’t play with that,” he added.

Viktor Hovland competed in the 2025 Players Championship where he carded 80-68 in the first and second rounds, failing to make the cut into round three.

How many PGA Tour events has Viktor Hovland played so far?

Viktor Hovland has played in six PGA Tour events this year, including the Valspar Championship. His first start of the year was in The Sentry at Kapalua Resort, where he finished at T35.

Following his appearance in The Sentry, Hovland competed in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he finished at T22 with 10-under. The 27-year-old golfer performed poorly in his next three tournaments, missing the cut in the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the Players Championship.

In the first round of the 2025 Valspar Championship, Viktor Hovland shot two birdies and two bogeys to card 70 at the end of the day. In the second round, he shot five birdies and one bogey, finishing with 67 and moving to T2 on the leaderboard.