Viktor Hovland has played like a shell throughout 2024, missing the cut in three of the four majors and finishing the regular season 57th in the FedExCup standings, a far cry from his play a year ago.
So with the top 50 players qualifying for next week’s BMW Championship in Colorado and a spot in all eight signature events in 2025, Hovland needed to perform well in Memphis – and so far, he’s done just that.
The 26-year-old Norwegian shot a much-needed 7-under 63 on Friday to jump nearly 40 places up the rankings and is currently projected to finish inside the top 50.
“It was a lot of fun,” Hovland said.
“Yeah, eight birdies, 63, it was a lot of fun.”
Hovlan had six par-breakers in his first nine holes to finish in 30. His only dropped shot of the day came on the tricky par-4 fifth hole, when he miscued his tee shot into a fairway bunker, but he recovered from that mistake to record three consecutive birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes.
The final two strokes came later in the round, on the par-5 16th and par-4 17th holes, capping off a fantastic day on the course.
Hovlan’s 63 was his lowest score on the PGA Tour this season. His best score was a 64 in the third round of the Travelers Championship, which finished tied for 20th. But the stakes are much higher this week in Memphis.
But Hovland isn’t succumbing to the extra pressure.
“The game plan is still the same,” Hovland said.
“I just happened to get off to a good start and was able to build momentum from there.”
Hovlan finally made a 126-foot putt on Friday, and his putter gave him plenty of momentum early on.
“I started hitting everything, it was really good, I had some good approach shots, I think I got three or four birdies with tap-ins, three of them early on so that was good,” Hovlan explained.
“I’m making less and less mistakes, so that’s good, but I still feel like I’m not where I should be. But it’s nice to be out here playing and putting up some really good scores, even when I’m a little bit out of form.”
Hovlan undoubtedly still has a lot of work to do to regain the form that saw him win the FedExCup last season, but he believes he is heading in the right direction, which is a positive sign for the two-time Ryder Cup champion.
“At least now I’m hitting shots that look and feel the same as my old clubs, so that’s a very positive thing,” Hovlan added.
“Then on other shots, I go back to my old habits. I just keep working on what I’m working on and I think I’ll start to see a good swing again.”
He showed a lot of solid swing action on Friday and if he can keep it up over the weekend he should have no problem being ready for next week’s BMW Championship in Colorado.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
