WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 23, 2022

Viktor Hovland

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Always good to get the victory in the first match. How would you characterize the match today?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It was very up and down. I kind of had a lousy start, kind of giving away a couple holes in the beginning. And started making some birdies there, made three birdies in a row and I got to 1-up.

Felt really good after number 9.

Then I 3-putt 10 and dump one in the water on 11 and 12 and suddenly I'm 1-down. So it wasn't pretty but making seven birdie it was nice to get the win.

Q. How did you regain your momentum after 11 and 12 there, because I think were you 1-down after 12.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: So after I hit in the water on 12 I was looking like it was going to go to 2-down, but I made a very nice up-and-down for par and Sepp doesn't make birdie, so that's kind of a momentum for me of getting away with a halve there.

And then making a putt on the next, to tie the hole for, to stay 1-down. So that was nice as well.

Then, yeah, that just kind of kept me going a little bit.

Q. The putter, you had the 3-putt on 10, but the putter seemed to really, especially when you were outside of him on a few holes there early on kind of seemed to gave you that momentum a little bit.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, no, I did make some really nice putts. It's tough for the other guy when you're in kind of the same spot, you both have 15-footers and I make it and he misses, that's huge for momentum. I feel like if I didn't make too many other mistakes I really could have gone away with it today, I made it a little too interesting, but those 15-footers kind of kept me in the match today.

Q. How is your mindset now, now that you control your own destiny?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: You just got to play well. Those other guys are not going to back down and there's a ton of birdies out there, even though it is windy, so try to do a lot more of the same, but try to avoid the big mistakes, which I did. With a wedge from the fairway you can't miss the green and hit it in the wrong spot where you're automatically making a bogey. Or just, water short, just take an extra club or hit a little bit further past it instead of trying to really get close to the pin.

So I was a little greedy in spots, so I just kind of need to focus on playing solid golf and putting the pressure on the opponent.