Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas know all about golf’s long and winding road.
Their paths back to prominence intersected Sunday at the Valspar Championship where Hovland used two late birdies to overtake Thomas to pick up what may be the most unlikely of his seven PGA Tour victories.
Without a victory since becoming the 2023 FedEx Cup champion with his win at the Tour Championship that year, Hovland has been adrift in golf’s wilderness, changing coaches and chasing the form that had him ranked as high as third in the world.
Hovland showed up at Innisbrook Resort having missed three consecutive cuts, including at the Players Championship the previous week where he shot 80 in the first round.
Yet there he was Sunday evening, sounding as surprised as anyone to be holding the trophy after making birdies at the 16th and 17th holes to finish at 11-under-par 273, one better than Thomas.
“It’s unbelievable to see I can win. I honestly did not believe I could do it this week,” said Hovland, who began working with swing coach Grant Waite for the second time earlier this year.
During the final round, nine players had a share of the lead at various points and it appeared Thomas – chasing his first victory since the 2022 PGA Championship – was poised to win after making four birdies in a five-hole stretch early on the back nine.
A bogey at the par-4 16th hole, however, gave Hovland the opening he needed and Thomas could not recover. Having returned to the top 10 in the world ranking, Thomas left the Valspar feeling encouraged.
“I’ll take a lot of good. Way, way more good than bad,” said Thomas, whose rounds of 65-66 were the lowest weekend score in tournament history.
“Today was awesome. I felt so comfortable … I’m very, very proud of myself. It sucks not winning when you’re that close and have a great chance, but I just hopefully put myself in the same position in two weeks at Augusta and finish it off better.”
While Thomas has been in contention in recent events, Hovland arrived like a shooting star at Innisbrook, abruptly reversing a pattern of poor and dispiriting results.
Even after winning, Hovland did not sound like a player who has fully won the battle he has been fighting.
“It’s still the same swing,” Hovland said. “I hit a lot of disgusting shots but they happened to go where I looked. I’m able to hit the good shots a lot more than I have been the last few weeks but there are still some high rights out there.”
There is also psychological scar tissue to deal with.
“There are a lot of insecurities, a lot of doubts,” Hovland said. “It’s tough to get excited to come out here. This is what I love, but when I have no confidence that’s pretty tough. It’s been a tough year and a half.”
Ron Green Jr.