MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2023

Viktor Hovland

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Like to welcome Viktor Hovland to the media center. What a great round today, five birdies and an eagle, co-leader in the clubhouse at 7-under par 65.

Viktor, great day at the office. Tell us about your round today.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Thank you. It was very fun today. Got off to a nice start, obviously making eagle on No. 2 and just kept hitting great shots on the front nine and made some putts, and before I knew it, somehow I was 6-under through 11, and yeah, just kind of coast in to 65. So that was awesome.

Q. Obviously 65 will play anywhere, but how especially important was it to get off to this kind of start knowing the weather that's coming up the next few days?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, obviously we don't know how bad it's going to get, but I tend to think that it's easier to make up some ground on the easier days. So if you start with a really low round and it gets very difficult, it's kind of easier to protect the score a little bit compared to if you're five, six, seven shots back, it's really difficult to make up that much ground if this place is playing very difficult. So obviously getting off to a nice start is key this week.

Q. Nice shirt, blended well with the azaleas out there on the course. What is it about Tiger that you like so much? You were low amateur when he won in 2019, and twice you won his Hero World Challenge, and here you are playing a flawless 65.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I don't know what it is. Just happened to be the case. But obviously it's really cool to just be around him. He's been such a huge influence to the game of golf, and obviously watched him hours growing up. And to get to play with him for the first time today was very special, and especially to play this round, as well.

Q. What happened on 15?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: What part?

Q. On No. 15. Hole No. 15, you had a par. Is that right?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: (Laughing.)

Q. Were you thinking about something? Just a bad tee shot?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I hit a couple bad shots in a row there. The second shot on 14 just kind of came out of nowhere, and I was trying to hit a really hard fade with the wind off the tee, and I just toed it, and it just went left instead, which normally never happens off the tee for me. If I hit a bad drive, it's usually to the right. That caught me a little off guard, but I actually made a nice 5 there in the end.

Q. Thank you and better luck tomorrow and the following rounds.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Thank you.

Q. What was your initial reaction to seeing the draw? Was it something that you relished?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I think it's one of those when Shane told me on the practice area because I wasn't on my phone checking it, and when he said we were paired with Tiger, my heart kind of went a little bit further up in the throat, and I just thought, wow, this is going to be exciting. Heart rate started going up. After that, I calmed myself down and thought, this is going to be very exciting. You've just got to embrace it. You can't be scared or anything like that. If you want to win this tournament, you can't be scared about playing with Tiger. So you've just got to overcome things like that.

Q. Just on your night's sleep, did you sleep okay last night?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I actually did. Just because I feel like I've done a lot of good work this week and my game feels really good. It's easier for me to just kind of relax and I don't have to, you know, hope I'm playing -- obviously I hope I play well. But I trust my skill set that, you know, it's not going to be all that bad, even if I'm not on my game.

So I was just kind of very relaxed and just looking forward for the opportunity.

Q. Short game looks really sharp. What have you done there?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, don't need to get fully nerdy about it, but basically the biggest part is that I'm not tilting back as much, and the biggest problem was that I've gotten too shallow with my chips, and that's just kind of have to yank the hands forward and you get no loft.

The first part was getting more on top of the ball, get some more angle of attack down, and now I can actually percent the loft in the way that I want. If I want to hit it high, if I want to hit it low, I can do that with my wrist now.

Q. And how nice is it to see it delivering?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean, I don't care how good you hit it out here, you have to chip the ball. You have to have a short game. And especially on that back nine when I hit a lot of bad shots, to be honest, but I managed to keep myself in it by hitting some really nice chips and making some really nice putts.

Q. On a day like today where the conditions are as good as they are, did you sense there was any pressure among those in the field to post a low score?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Didn't really think too much about that. Obviously the greens are receptive, but this place is always -- if you get a little too cocky and you want to push a few spots that you probably shouldn't, it will punish you very quickly.

So you know a good score is out there, but you can't really force it. You've just got to let it happen, and if you have some makeable putts, you've got to make them, and then you can get into a rhythm.

But it's one of those things, you push too hard and it will backfire.

Q. What was your club and distance into 2, and secondly, as you looked at that bunker shot at 18, what were some of the things you were contemplating as you looked at how to play that shot?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: On 2, I had 191 meters to the pin, and I ended up hitting just a full 6-iron that went a little bit further than I actually anticipated. I thought it was going to land just barely on the front edge of the green and roll, and it actually landed by the pin. That was a little surprising, but nice 3 there.

And 18, after seeing Tiger's bunker shot, he was obviously further back in the bunker and had a way harder shot, so when he hit the green, it kind of scooted forward pretty hard, and instead of taking the slope going straight down, it went forward, and I just wasn't -- I was just kind of evaluating, you know, what was the smartest play. Either I could take it right at the pin, try to spin it a little bit, but the downslope was pretty severe. So the best case was maybe 15 feet and try to make a putt, or I could try to get a little cute with it and take the slope, and if I got enough spin on it, it would take the slope and go directly down.

So yeah, just kind of gambled on it and hit a great shot.

Q. Is that your personality a little bit, is a gambler there?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I like to gamble a little bit. You probably shouldn't find out and see if you can hit the shot or not at the Masters (laughter), but you've got to try them out somewhere. Today I pulled a lot of those shots off, so that's fun. It just gives me more and more confidence.

Q. How do you think you would have fared if you started with a 4-putt double-bogey today?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Is that what Jon Rahm did? That's pretty impressive -- not the 4-putt but the remaining golf after that.

I mean, I feel like now that I have worked on my game, and I feel very confident about my game, I've done a way better job of not letting the bad shots affect me as much because I think if you're a little insecure about your game, you start off with a double-bogey, and, oh, here we go, and it's going to be hard to get all those shots back.

But if you feel good about your game, you've just got to keep pushing, and that's obviously what Jon Rahm did.

Q. What was the turning point for you, feeling that confidence?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Honestly it's been a few months, or a month now. I would say at Bay Hill, I kind of started to feel like the pieces were coming along. The back nine at Riviera was very big for me, even though, you know, it was a 20th finish I think that week, so it wasn't something to jump too high in the air about.

But that back nine, I felt like something clicked, and ever since then, I've just felt better and better about my game.

Q. If it turns cool and rainy over the weekend, will Norway and Stillwater help you a bit?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think so. The few weeks that I've had at home the last two months, I would say it's been really cold, and I've played with three, four layers in 30-degree weather and blowing 30. I've definitely had enough practice in those types of conditions. But I haven't played Augusta National in that type of weather, so that will be interesting to see how that goes.

But yeah, I don't think that will be a disadvantage.

Q. When you woke up this morning, if someone told you you would shoot a 65 and have a share of the lead at the Masters, what would you have thought?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I would have taken that. That's pretty fun. You know, as I said, my game's been feeling good. But to shoot a 65 bogey-free out here, some things have to go your way. It's not like you can just step up and have that handed to you. So I definitely had some things go my way today but also hit a lot of great shots.

Q. I have to ask about your shirt, it kind of took off on social media. Talk about your choice in shirt, and whose idea was it?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I had nothing to do with it (laughter) I just wear what they tell me to wear.

No, I mean, it's definitely a little bit out there, but I think I'd rather take these than the pink pants I had last year. So we're making progress.

Q. Just wanted to stand out a little bit?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I guess.

Q. When your short game wasn't where you wanted it before, how much did that affect the rest of your game and decision-making when you weren't so confident you could recover?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it's pretty night and day, to be honest. Certain courses I could kind of get away with it a little bit. I think that's one of the reasons why I did so well, for example, at Mayakoba because places like that, when your ball-striking is in a good spot, it's just driver and fairways and greens, and you've got to make a lot of putts.

I feel like I'm a good putter and I'm a good driver and a good iron player, but sometimes out here when you get to the hardest courses, yeah, I have a big advantage with my ball-striking; that I'm going to hit more greens than other guys are. But sometimes the conditions or the course is so difficult that you can hit good shots and you still have to chip.

There's just no way around it, especially out here. It's just designed to make you uncomfortable, especially around the greens.

Q. The final round of The Open, it seemed like you were a little conservative off the tee. Do you have any regrets that you didn't let the driver rip a little bit more, and overall, what did you learn from that experience?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I actually heard; a couple people told me that. I do remember, for example, on No. 9, I hit an iron off the tee. I still think that was the play because, you know, the conditions changed a little bit and I wasn't just going to hit a driver and a good drive into one of those pot bunkers.

So I had multiple people ask me about that, that Sunday, and that was just one of those where I really had not played all that great leading up to The Open. And I made a lot of putts the first three rounds. I felt great, and I actually was very calm on that Sunday. I just didn't quite get anything going. The putts that I made earlier in the week, I just didn't make the putts.

And then you let the other guys get a head start and it's just hard to catch them. It's just one of those days where I didn't quite have it. It wasn't like a mental error. But I feel like my skill set is a lot better right now, and I think I would have wanted to play that Sunday again, this week, for example. That would have been a lot of fun.