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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 10, 2019

Viktor Hovland

Silvis, Illinois

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Viktor Hovland to the John Deere Classic. He is making his fourth professional start here this week and is coming off a T13 finish at the 3M Open. If we could just get some opening comments about your week here and your tournament debut.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it's going to be my fifth week in a row. I've played a lot of golf lately, but I'm really enjoying it, and been able to have a couple practice rounds out here already, and the course is in great shape, and I'm just looking forward to getting started.

THE MODERATOR: You ran into your former teammates and you were walking in here. You saw Matt win last week at the 3M Open. How was it seeing him win last week?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: He won last week? I didn't know that. That was obviously amazing to watch. I knew he was capable of it, and for him to do it in just his fourth start as a professional, that's pretty incredible. Yeah, good for him.

Q. Speaking of the two of you guys, how did you make each other better throughout college? I'm sure you went head-to-head quite a few times.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I'd say most of the work is being laid when we're just practicing at home at Karsten, just going out to play nine holes with the rest of the guys on the team and just watching what he's doing, we would have numerous times where I'd play good, I'd shoot 3-, 4-under on the front nine and he would shoot 4-, 5-under and then the next day it would be the opposite way. We would just continue to kind of push each other that way, where you think, okay, I'm playing sweet right now, but you still got beat by the other guy on the team, so that just kind of forces you to continue to work harder and get better.

Q. The John Deere Classic is known for young golfers making their big breakthroughs. Do you think this weekend could be your big one, and if so, why?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, I don't know. It's another week, and I'm just trying to play good golf. I know the course -- I would think it sets up well for me because it's more of a second shot golf course. You kind of have to fit it through narrow gaps off the tee and kind of persist in yourself, and I think that kind of fits my game well. But there's so many good guys out there, I just try to play my best and see how it goes.

Q. Are you content with this first part of your professional career, the way it's going right now, and what did it do to you? Did it change your perspective seeing what Matthew did last week?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I don't know if I'm content or not. It's gone by so quick, I haven't really been able to think about it too much to kind of evaluate what I've already been doing. But I've obviously played well. I just haven't been able to string together four good rounds. I've had some really good rounds out there, but I'm just trying to continue to improve and then hopefully I can put together four good rounds this week and be in contention.

And obviously seeing Matt and Collin fighting for a victory last week, that's really cool because I've spent so much time around them and seeing if they can do it, I feel like I can do it, as well. But it doesn't come to you easy and you've just got to go out there and get it.

Q. Does that spur you on at all, seeing those guys at the top --
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, for sure, because I know their games so well, and it's cool to see them succeed, so yeah, it's definitely motivating. But it doesn't matter who wins. It's always motivating because I know that, okay, if I play well, I can potentially be that guy. So yeah, for sure.

Q. Just a few months ago we get the press release that yourself and Matthew and Collin were coming in as sponsor exemptions, and fast forward to now, in Vegas you guys are the odds-on favorite to win the John Deere Classic. So you went from sponsor exemptions to favorites. Did you know that, and your thoughts on that?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I did not know that. Someone texted me yesterday that that was what Vegas put on us, but that's obviously kind of incredible that we're still playing off of sponsor's exemptions, except for Matt, obviously, but to kind of -- I don't know what to say about it, if it's too quick or not. But obviously we've played some great golf, and yeah, I don't know what my thoughts are on that.

I'm just trying to play my best golf. We'll see how it goes.

Q. We'll see if Vegas knows.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: We'll see. We'll see if they know. Stay off the weed.

Q. What's been the biggest challenge of playing five weeks in a row?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Just kind of after a round, figuring out how much I should practice or not, and obviously on the Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays when there's a pro-am, there's a junior clinic and that stuff to do, you've got to be really efficient with your time when you're on the course. To be honest, I still haven't quite figured that out yet because I'm the type of guy that likes to just spend the whole day on the course and just chill or not take it to seriously, just be out there and goof off. So I'm going to have to be a little better in that way. But I'm starting to learn a little bit.

Q. How much do you ask some of the veterans on TOUR about maybe their routines when you're playing five weeks in a row or managing your schedule? Do you pick other guys' brains?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: A little bit. I've gotten to play with Charles Howell a lot in the practice rounds, and he's obviously been out here for a while, and if you just kind of look at what he does, he's a professional in every single facet of his life. He seems to just kind of figure it out a routine that works for him. I think that's -- if you ask anyone out here, it's completely different what people do compared to the next person.

So I think the biggest advice is that you need to figure out what you do best and then just stick to that.

Q. Knowing that this is your fifth week in a row, are you limiting your practice rounds to maybe nine holes or are you just going after it?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Apparently I was just going after it because I played 18 on Monday and I played 18 yesterday, and I got another nine today. So yeah, we'll see how it goes.

Q. Do you and the other younger guys, Matt and Justin and Collin, hang out together off the course? Is there kind of a comfort zone for you guys together?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: We haven't been able to do that the first few weeks now, with kind of how our schedules are. Someone has got a Monday pro-am that's early, someone's late, someone likes to practice in the evening, someone likes to practice in the mornings. We've had a couple practice rounds I remember in Detroit I had with Justin Suh and Matt and got to play with Collin earlier in the year. It's just kind of what our schedules allow for. But we try to see each other just the right amount.

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