ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 4, 2022

Viktor Hovland

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. I think 23 putts today. I mean, what did you do to your putter last night that allowed you to come out and put together a round like this on the greens?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I didn't know it was that few. I knew I putted well, but I didn't know it was 23. It felt like I putted good yesterday. My speed was maybe a little bit off, and I still feel like I can improve on that a little bit even after today.

I just really saw the lines really well and able to start it online. Sometimes when you see a couple go in early, it's easy to keep that feel going throughout the day.

Q. 17, how huge was it to be able to birdie? That's like a three-shot swing with the lead right there.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, that's a tough hole. Obviously a lot of things can happen. It was a perfect number for my 5-iron. I hit it really well and trickled up there to ten feet. So that was a nice way to kind of get into 18 and then obviously starting the front nine.

Yeah, I'll try to hit more of those shots.

Q. Was that maybe the shot of the day that you kind of would remember from this round, which was a pretty memorable round, I'm sure.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, that was certainly one of the highlights. A couple of key points was kind of I hit a really bad shot on 15 off the tee, and it ended up in the bunker. I hit a really nice 7-iron just pin high left and made that putt. So that was a big hole. Obviously 17. I'll say it was also a nice little birdie on 4 after hitting it in the right rough and then laying up in the left rough and making birdie from there, and then the par save on the last.

So I was out of position a couple times, but I was able to make the best out of it.

Q. The story on the Player Impact Program that just started, what do you think about that? Should on course performance have anything to do with it?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I haven't really given it too much thought, to be honest with you. I'd say it's a good thing that the players that are getting talked about the most are getting rewarded for it. I think that's a good incentive.

I really haven't given it too much thought whether or not that money should be put into on course performances. Yeah, I don't really think about it too much.

Q. Are you superstitious at all? Do you have any superstitions that you do?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: No, no.

Q. Not at all? So the putter is not like sleeping next to you tonight?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: No. I have like one thing, which is just what I've always done, like I always have my marker in my left pocket because, when I was a kid, I would put it in my right pocket but I would also put my glove in the right pocket. When I would pull out my glove, the coin would fall off. Even though now I keep it in my back pocket, I always have it in the left pocket.

Q. What's your marker?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It's just a quarter.

Q. What happened on 13? I mean, everything else looked like it was really good, and then 13 reached up and grabbed you. Were you in the rough off the tee and had to make a different kind of shot?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: 13?

Q. Yeah.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Oh, yeah. I wanted to kind of lay back a little bit, so I hit a 4-iron off the tee, and I just pushed it. It ended up in the side slope in the first cut. So it wasn't that bad, but at the same time, I had to hit an 8-iron from there to back right pin. Obviously, the downslope is going to pull it left, but it's pretty uncomfortable aiming it in the water on the right trusting it. So that was one of the few poor swings of the day.

Q. So you were going for safety with that shot?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I guess I should have hit a 9, now just looking back at it, because I missed it left and had no shot from there. If I'd have hit the same shot with a 9-iron, I would have had a little angle going up the green. So I guess there wasn't too much safety in that shot.

Q. When you think back to what happened to you last year here on the weekend, what would you have done differently?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I kind of try to forget the weekend here last year. I played really well the first few days, very similar to kind of how I played so far this year. The course just gets harder and harder every single day, and it started blowing. A few too many bad swings and I ended up in bad spots and just didn't really take my medicine. I kind of compounded the errors instead of playing smart and just taking the bogey when you're out of position.

Q. Was that an important learning experience for you?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I would say so because this week really drained me out until -- or before the next week at THE PLAYERS and didn't really have my mind right for that week either. Yeah, it hurt me a little bit, but at the same time, I felt like I learned a lot.

Q. As a really good ball striker, last year notwithstanding, if you know it gets tougher here this week, gets a little drier, doesn't that play right into a good ball striker?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I would kind of say the opposite, to be honest with you. Obviously, if you hit fairways and greens, it's always going to help. But I think the firmer the course gets means that a lot of good shots that you hit, they land on the green and roll over the green, and now I've got to chip the same as the other guy's got to chip.

I would say there's a balance. If it's hard, ball strikers get an advantage, but if it's too hard, it just becomes a scrambling competition. We'll see how hard it ends up getting.

Q. How often in the states do fans call out something like, hey, my grandmother's from Norway? How often do you hear that? Like every day?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I heard one this morning actually. Yeah, that happens quite a bit. There's a lot of Norwegian ancestry here in the states. Yeah, I do hear it quite a bit.

Q. Do they say anything funny, or what do they say?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Normally not, no.

Q. Was the one today funny?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: No. He just said I have a couple of relatives from Asker, Norway, which is pretty close to where I grew up.

Q. What was your response?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I just said cool (laughter).