THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2023

Viktor Hovland

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Viktor, did something click down the stretch in the game and making four birdies in the last five holes?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I guess it did. I don't know what it was. I hit a lot of really good shots early in the round. I just had a couple of misses on the wrong spots and short-sided myself a couple of times. You do that out here with the greens being this firm and the rough being this thick, it's a hard escape.

I told myself after the bogey on 13, it wasn't looking too good, and then I drove it in the right rough and had a terrible lie, and somehow I turned that into a birdie, and that kind of gave me some momentum. Then I made a nice putt on 15, as well. Just kind of kept it rolling.

Q. Sometimes is it that simple, just a great birdie like that, turning a bad lie into a good birdie can kind of put you on a roll?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yep, 100 percent.

Q. What did you feel like you were doing well out there during the round?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Again, I didn't really feel like I did anything amazing today. I made a couple of nice putts today, but in terms of ball-striking, it was nothing special. It's fun to play golf again when I kind of know where the misses are.

On 18, for example, I can aim it left fairway and just try to hit a cut up against the wind, and I know I'm not going to miss it left. That's a very stress-free feeling, instead of aiming down the middle and then it could go right or it could do left. That's no way to play golf.

Q. How did you find the course today as far as difficulty?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it was firm. Obviously there wasn't too much wind out there, so it was definitely scorable, and there was some easier hole locations, some obviously hard ones, but with there being no wind you could definitely attack certain spots, but obviously with the greens being this firm, and if you hit a lot of good shots, you could end up close, but if you're a little bit off and you short-side yourself, it's really difficult.

It was gettable, but it's still hard.

Q. Are you feeling more comfortable at this golf course now that you've played it a few times?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I feel like I play this golf course pretty well. It's a ball-striker's course, especially with how much water is out there, and now that it's getting firm, the rough is thick, you've really got to hit it well off the tee and into the greens.

I feel like it sets up well for me, but it's definitely no pushover.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your stance on 16. Any thought of chipping it? What was going through your mind as you were looking at it and did you have any thought that you might fall into the water?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Walking off I was thinking, oh, that's probably going to be a chip. Then I stepped up there and realized that I have to putt this one because I didn't really have a stance. I had to kind of get pretty far left of the ball and aim pretty far to the right just to get a stance. So I wasn't too concerned about falling back in, unless I just suddenly got vertigo.

It was just one of those things where it was hard to kind of aim the putter correctly. It was a lot of slope on it, and I wasn't quite sure how it was going to come off through the rough.

Yeah, I guessed correctly. We'll take it.