MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2022

Viktor Hovland

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to welcome Viktor Hovland back to the interview room. It was a short two years ago when you were the low amateur here in 2019, and then you followed up last year's start with a top 25 finish. Tell us about what your biggest takeaways are from your first two experiences here at Augusta National.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It's crazy to think it's already been three years ago since I played here the first time. Missed the November edition but got to play here last year again.

It's nice to be back and kind of relive some of the shots I hit before and, on the other holes, try to improve some of the ones that I've hit.

But it's interesting because I feel like every day you come out here, the course plays different. So it's not like you play once or twice or even three, four times that you know the place. There's always something to learn. I'm trying to get in as many holes as possible so I can just keep learning and hopefully play this place well come Thursday to Sunday.

Q. Talking about that, can you talk about what is it about you -- hate to bring up bad memories. You started last year with a triple bogey right out of the gate, and you get it back in a hurry. What's your greatest strength, is it physical or mental?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: That's a good question. It's hard to answer, I feel like, because I feel like a lot it's they kind of go hand in hand. If you're playing well, it's easy to be mentally strong, if that makes sense. But if you don't have a certain skill set, you can't wish yourself to suddenly be good at it.

But they go kind of hand in hand. Obviously starting with a triple bogey is never ideal, but I knew that I'd done a bunch of preparations before the week, and my game felt pretty good. So instead of freaking out and kind of not giving it up or firing at every pin that I'm not supposed to do, I try to just reset and trust my game, and then hopefully I'd make some birdies and get it back.

I got it back a little quicker than I thought. I was even par after six holes, and I was in a good spot because I remember Thursday last year it played really hard. The greens were really firm and there was a little bit of wind. I think Justin Rose was the only guy that made it look easy out there that first round.

Q. You had a nice experience here as an amateur. What advice would you give to a first timer here, an amateur?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think I was maybe too caught up in trying to be too perfect. It's a major. You're playing against the best players in the world, so it's easy to think that every part of your game has to be perfect. If you just do certain things well, which I think every player in this field can because they're here, your game can take you really far.

It's more about just enjoying the process and going through your preparations and knowing where to hit it, where to not hit it, and just kind of stick to your game. Don't try to do anything you're not comfortable with. Yeah, just rely on kind of your strengths and have fun.

Q. Is there anything you picked up as a souvenir here when you were an amateur that's special to you?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I'm not a big like material guy, souvenirs. I mean, I took a couple pictures and just memories with my mom and dad being here in 2019. Those are kind of the more special things that I relish, not so much things. But anything with a Masters logo is pretty cool.

Q. You play in the second to last group on Thursday with Spieth and Schauffele. First of all, that's a 1:52 p.m. tee time. How do you plan your day? And what's it like to play with someone who you know is successful around here like Jordan Spieth?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: That's a pretty late tee time, but I don't think it will get as weird as it did at THE PLAYERS teeing off at 6:30 at night. It's definitely a little different, trying to sleep in as much as possible and get your mind off of playing golf early in the morning.

Luckily I have some friends in town and some family in town, so I can hang out with them and try to take my mind off of it.

I've played a bunch with Xander the last 12 months. I don't think I've played with any other guy more than him. So it will be fun to play with him and obviously Jordan. Haven't seen his game in a little bit, but his track record here is very impressive. So I'm going to try to focus on my own game but at the same time maybe keep an eye out on what he does well, and maybe I can pick up on some things.

Q. Victor, what was it like having the full galleries back yesterday?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It was a little different. It feels like the Masters, how it should be. Last year it was weird just having -- my dad managed to get here and watch me play, and I had one of my best friends watch me as well. But it's a little different when you have two, three people watching you, compared to now you hear the roars and you know if someone's made a birdie or an eagle or Tiger made a par or something like that.

No, it's cool to have it back to kind of the way it should be and kind of how I have always grown up watching it. So it will be cool to be a part of this year's edition.

Q. Do you do any kind of special preparations when it comes to your short game this week?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: So it's more like good short game is just good short game. For me, it's more about trying to get the fundamentals down and just technique work, get more consistent. One thing that's really important out here is that with the greens being as firm as they are, and if you miss certain greens you kind of end up in a low point and you have to hit it up in the air, and if you're short sided, you have to spin the ball.

It's not so much about the height, because I can flop it up in the air, but if you don't have any spin on it, the ball's not going to stop. So I played a practice round with Paul Casey yesterday, and I was watching him hit some shots from over the green on 15. I was basically trying to bump it into the slope and get it somewhere close, and he hit these nice, just kind of spinners, landed by the pin, and just stopped so quick, and he did it multiple times in a row. It's not like you just catch one that spins and then the next one kind of tumbles.

So I think it's more about spin, controlling spin. If you can do that, you can hit some of these short game shots really close when they don't really look too easy.

So I'm trying to -- it comes back to contact. Just trying to get good contact.

Q. You strike a lot of people as always being very upbeat, very happy. Are you? Where does that come from?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I would say I am. I enjoy a lot of things in life, other things not so much, but I try to look forward to the things that I want to do. If there is something that I want to do, I try to do them. But I guess it's a lot of genes. My mom and dad are pretty happy people. Norway is a pretty happy country. It's a lot about that.

Obviously, I have a pretty good job for a living, so I don't have a whole lot of things to complain about.

Q. Do you feel comfortable here yet? And if not, when do you think you will?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I would definitely say I feel more comfortable. It's a major championship. It's a place like none other. The course is hard. It's kind of made to make you feel uncomfortable, but I feel like I'm just through other experiences, I think playing the Ryder Cup was very helpful for me to just kind of handle new experiences better.

So even if I am uncomfortable, it's not the end of the world. I know how to handle that. I have good routines in place, and I have a skill set that's improving so I can trust that and kind of let that do the talking.

What did you say, examples of new things that I see?

Q. I was just wondering whether you were comfortable because you'd said at the beginning how this is a place where you've got to learn something every time you come. I wondered whether at this stage in your life you felt now that you've sort of mastered it?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I would say the back nine I feel like I'm getting a better hang of, just because I've watched it so much on TV and you kind of know what the slopes are doing. Obviously, there's a couple of changes on the back nine that you have to get adjusted to.

The front nine, at least the last few times I've played here, I haven't played as well on the front nine as I have on the back nine, particularly like 4, 5, and 6 are just such hard holes. I think there's subtle strategies you can tinker with a little bit depending on where the pins are.

I think you have a tendency of going too much at the pins there instead of maybe playing more of a safer shot. Those holes are the toughest on the course. If you just make pars there, you're really going to do well compared to the field.

I think -- you know, I played five holes this morning. For example on No. 5, to almost all the pins, I've always tried to get it up on that top tier and always thought that putt from short is really, really difficult, but after checking it out today, I thought there's only one pin that was really tough from that front part of the green.

So just little things like that you pick up on. Some years the conditions might change, and you might have to alter your strategy. You just have to be observant.

Q. So how much has the weather forecast for this afternoon and potentially tomorrow, how much has it affected what your practice plans would have been this week?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it's more about just kind of knowing where's the wind going to be? For example, on 3 today it was downwind and I just pumped driver trying to get as close to the green as possible. But then it was more -- and I thought that was the play for sure to every single green or pin on that green.

But it's more about, okay, on Thursday, for example, where is the wind going to be? It's going to be in and off the left. Well, where is that going to leave my drive? I'm probably going to be 30 yards farther back or 35 yards. Does it still make sense to hit that club off the tee into those pins? It's kind of thinking that way a little bit.

First of all, you're trying to play the course. What's the best strategy today? But then also kind of thinking back, what if the wind is off that side? Or what if the pin is on the right side, left side? You kind of work it that way.

Q. So in terms of time and schedule, you said you played five holes today. Did you originally plan to try to play a few more and the weather got in the way? Do you feel like your play might be shortened a bit this week because of the weather that's coming through?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It probably will. I was planning on playing nine today because I played the back nine yesterday, so I was trying to get the whole front nine in. As I said, I played five holes. I feel like the first five are maybe more important than 6, 7, 8, 9. I feel like those are a bit more straightforward.

Obviously, I like to play the holes, but sometimes it's nice to get more rest and kind of don't spend too much time on the golf course when you can kind of put things in your head or something like that. At the end of the day, fairways are fairways and greens are greens. So just hit good golf shots, and it should be fine.