Viktor Hovland dishes on coach change, 8-hour range sessions, playing golf with broken toe
KAPALUA, Hawaii – Viktor Hovland hobbled over to a microphone to answer some post-round questions in his native Norwegian, the last of which centered around his pinkie toe on his right foot, which he broke on Sunday after slamming into the bed frame during the middle of the night. Hovland posted an image of the clean break on Instagram with the caption: “Bed frame 1-0 me.” After he finished his response, a reporter asked him for the English version.
“It’s a terror walking 18 holes,” Hovland told Golfweek. “It’s a little different than having a cart the first two days.”
To add insult to injury for Hovland, Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course happens to be the toughest walk all season for the pros and he said it’s taking its toll on him despite shooting 3-under 70 on Thursday in his first competitive round on the PGA Tour in 122 days, the longest break of his career, at The Sentry.
Hovland said the injury shouldn’t prevent him from playing any future events but it has started to swell and hurt more. Earlier this week, Hovland told the Associated Press that he was taping the toe and taking painkillers.
“It’s affecting how I walk, my lower back and quads,” he said. “Through impact I’m not extending as well as I would like and keeping myself bent over and flexed and my torso is kind of chasing after it a little bit.”
The timing of the injury is doubly bad because Hovland is dead set on regaining his form that spurred a run to being the 2023 FedEx Cup champion. Last year, he was in danger of not being able to defend his titles at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. He nearly won the FedEx St. Jude Championship and made it back to East Lake but went winless last year.
About a month ago, he said he parted ways for the second time with instructor Joe Mayo, who coached him during his most successful stretch of his career. Hovland declined to name a replacement but said he’s “talking to a guy as a consultant. I do need some help to get back to where I want to be. In the long run, I’d like to be my own guy and once I know the swing is in a good spot and I can control the ball flights reliably I don’t need anyone to hold my hand anymore, but we need to get back there first.”
Prior to his freak toe injury, Hovland had been practicing hard. He’s one of the Tour’s reputed range rats, which begged the question: what does working hard look like for him?
“A lot of sitting on the range," he said. "Some days it’s been 2-3 hours, others it has been 7-8.”
He also looks as if he’s spent about the same amount of time in the gym. His pecs were busting out of his J. Lindeberg shirt but he said it wasn’t a concerted effort to get more buff.
“Instead of having long hard work outs 2-3 days a week, I’ve been making it a habit to do two exercises after a long day of practice just to keep some continuity and I feel like I’ve gotten some benefits from that as well as being diligent about my diet,” he said.
The range sessions will continue to be intense for the time being. Hovland has skipped tournaments to work on his swing on the range at home instead; but Hovland let it be known that he’s actually not a fan of beating balls on repeat.
“I’d rather be striping it and go play some money games but if it isn’t right I’ve got to figure it out,” he said. “It doesn’t magically fix itself.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The Sentry 2025: Viktor Hovland on coach change, golf with broken toe
