[Winners Club] Hovland's Perfect Iron Shots on Two Holes

Seventh Career Victory at the Valspar Championship
Back-to-Back Birdies on 16th and 17th Holes Power Final Day Win
Excitement with Titleist and Ping Irons

Viktor Hovland (Norway) showcased precise iron shots over two holes to claim victory.

Viktor Hovland is making a chip shot on the 18th hole of the 4th round at the Valspar Championship. Palm Harbor - Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

On the 23rd (local time), at the Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course (par 71, 7,352 yards) in Palm Harbor, Florida, USA, Hovland secured a one-stroke win (11-under 273) at the PGA Tour Valspar Championship (total prize money $8.7 million). This marked his 7th career win, his first in 1 year and 7 months since the August 2023 PGA Tour FedExCup Playoffs (PO) Tour Championship, with a winner's prize of $1,566,000 (approximately 2.3 billion KRW).

Hovland faced a challenge from Justin Thomas (USA) on the day. Thomas, who made 7 birdies over 15 holes, briefly took the top spot on the leaderboard. However, Hovland responded on the 16th hole (par 4) by hitting a driving iron tee shot with a Titleist U505 to secure a birdie. On the 17th hole (par 3), from 222 yards, he used a Ping i210 iron for a perfect tee shot and sank a 3.3-meter birdie putt to retake the lead.

Hovland's greens in regulation percentage on the final day was 72.22%. In a post-win interview, he said, "I have been working on improving my swing with my coach," adding, "I was hesitant about playing in this tournament, but I’m really glad I did."

Driver: Ping G425 LST (9 degrees)

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade SIM Ti (15 degrees)

Irons: Titleist U505 (#3), Ping i210 (#4-PW)

Wedges: Ping s159 (50, 56 degrees), Ping Glide 2.0 (60 degrees)

Putter: Ping PLD DS 72 Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1 *Source: PGA Tour