Viktor Hovland on way to superstar status, Ryder Cup should rock – What we learned from Tour Championship

The Official World Golf Rankings may say different but there can be little doubt that Norway’s Viktor Hovland is the best player in the world right now.

Fresh from blowing away the field at the BMW Championship last week with a final round 61 on his way to victory, the Norwegian produced another outstanding display at the TOUR Championship to make it back-to-back titles.

Such was his dominance, he entered Sunday’s final round with a six-shot lead and offered little to no hope to his rivals with a bogey-free 63. More impressive was his refusal to buckle under the significant pressure exerted by his fast-finishing playing partner Xander Schauffele who signed for a 62.

“It’s pretty surreal to be standing here right now,” he said in the aftermath of his march to the title that lifted him to No. 4 in the world rankings.

He added: “I played basically my best golf the last two weeks and it couldn’t have happened at a better moment.”

Hovland’s win earned him an $18m bonus to add to the $3.6m he picked up at the BMW Championship – a total of $21.6m for two week’s work. That’s also four wins this season – if you include the ‘unofficial’ Hero World Challenge.

It is impossible not to like Hovland who quickly became a fan favourite after turning pro in 2019 with his fashion choices, sense of humour, fast food failings and apparent easy going nature making him one of the most popular players on tour.

But his popularity is now rooted in a series of outstanding performances on the course and he looks destined to become a true superstar of the game.

The scary thing for Hovland’s rivals is that despite conquering the PGA TOUR this season, he remains a work in progress.

The 25-year-old has long been a good player but by his own admission he has had some shortcomings – he memorably admitted, “I just suck at chipping”, following his maiden PGA TOUR win.

But he has the required hunger and work ethic to acknowledge and address these issues, reportedly tweaking his swing as recently as two weeks ago, and with the guidance of swing coach Joe Mayo, stats guru Edoardo Molinari and his caddie Shay Knight his short game improvements were a key element to his recent success.

“Viktor is a perfectionist,” explained Knight. “He wants to be so precise. He is a workhorse. He wants to get it right. He wants to be the best person he can be. And that’s what he has done.”

Equally important is Hovland’s ability to shrug off disappointment and go a little easier on himself and find more ‘peace’ on the course.

“If you want to get to the next level, you have to look introspectively,” Hovland said, “and you realize that, OK, when I’m in these moments and things are not going my way, I’m maybe reacting a little bit too much to it from it.”

The world has been reminded that Hovland is a formidable talent and warned that he has the desire to get better. How long until he adds a major to his already impressive golf CV?

As the dust settles on the TOUR Championship, the focus for many will switch to the Ryder Cup in Rome next month.

The in-form Hovland is set to be a headline act for Europe at the Marco Simone Golf Club and the leaderboard at East Lake offered more reason for hope with the already-qualified Rory McIlroy shrugging off a back injury to finish 4th. Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, who are sure to earn captain’s picks, also finished inside the top ten of a stellar field.

Add in Jon Rahm, a four-time winner this season and a Player of the Season contender, and Tyrrell Hatton (T16 at the TOUR Championship) then home fans have good reason to believe that the contest will not be as one-sided as that in Whistling Straits two years ago where the United States claimed a record 19-9 victory.

But things don’t exactly look bleak for the U.S. despite the fact they have not tasted victory on away soil since 1993.

That same top ten at the season finale included Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa – all of whom had already punched their ticket to Rome.

Time will tell who can channel that individual form into match play mastery.

The season may have drawn to a close but the debate surrounding the Jack Nicklaus award for the ‘Player of the Year’ rages on.

Spain’s Jon Rahm remains many people’s favourite having claimed an impressive four victories this year including his second major at the Masters.

His main rival for the honour is Scottie Scheffler who may have only won twice – including THE PLAYERS Championship – but he has been far more consistent with an incredible 17 top tens to his name from 23 events.

His insane consistency is also reflected in the major statistical categories with the American boasting the lowest scoring average and also claiming the No. 1 spot in a host of Strokes Gained categories – the data-based way of comparing performance of all players.

There is also the not insignificant and record-breaking $21,014,342 he has earned along the way.

Neither Rahm nor Scheffler have won since April, so making a late run into the conversation is Hovland who now has three wins to his name (not including the ‘unofficial ‘ Hero World Challenge) but realistically he may have to let someone else win for a change.

The players themselves will decide who is crowned the winner with the results of the ballot set to be revealed in the coming weeks.

If you’re not already a fan of Hovland, then his reaction to the $18m bonus that is set to hit his bank account in the wake of his TOUR Championship will surely win you over.

He told reporters that he has no plans to splurge on fast cars, property or even invest in Tiger & Rory’s forthcoming TGL fun and games.

“Obviously it’s a lot of cash you’re playing for,” he said. “I mean, it’s in the back of your mind. But I live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Money goes a long ways there. It’s not like I’m spending money out the wazoo every week. I don’t need a lot to be happy. I don’t need a lot to live within my means.”

A quick internet search reveals Hovland did not dip into his native Norwegian with his ‘wazoo’ reference and was simply underlining the fact he is not a big spender.

He added: “Obviously it’s nice for my family to have that protection and my, you know, eventual kids, that I’ll have in the future…it’s nice to have that, but it’s not something that drives me, it’s not something that gives me meaning. I find meaning in other places. But obviously with how society works, money is something you need.”

In the immediate aftermath of his win there was no champagne nor steak dinner, he simply opted for his fast food of choice from Chipotle.