Amid Nasty Break-Up, Viktor Hovland Blames Himself as Neck Deep PGA Tour Worries Finally Get Answered

The FedExCup rankings topper of 2023 faced a lot of trouble in 2024. However, he was close to winning a major, along with a runner-up finish in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. And the crucial change that the 27-year-old had was parting ways with his coach, Joe Mayo, which resulted in a decline in Hovland’s career. However, to fix the missing puzzle piece, by the middle of 2024, he again went back with his old coach. The fans were just relieved to see him back with the coach but for not long as another piece of news came in.

Now, as he starts his new schedule in 2025, the Norwegian professional shared the news of parting ways with his coach once again. However, he shared that he will be starting his schedule alone, but ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic, the golfer is seen with a new swing coach, TJ Yeaton, who is a Nashville-based instructor. However, his performance, which was questioned during the entire 2024 season, finally sees some answers now. He shared his shortcomings in a recent interview shared by Jamie Kennedy, Director of Digital Content Golf Digest.

The post captioned, “A refreshing interview Too many athletes, fuelled by ego and media training, are opposed or unable to admit their faults and open up about struggles. Not Viktor Hovland…..” Viktor Hovland looked back on his 2024 performance, which happened to be the worst season of his career. He failed to win for the first time and carded a career-low in the top 10s. He said, “I mean, to be honest with you. I’d like to be a little bit more hopeful, but, you know, it’s been very challenging even with the offseason that I had. Was hoping to make a little bit more progress, but it’s been more challenging.”

A refreshing interview

Too many athletes, fuelled by ego and media training, are opposed or unable to admit their faults and opening up about struggles.

Not Viktor Hovland….. pic.twitter.com/fpj3u3vjxT

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) January 15, 2025

Even further pointing out the challenges, he made it obvious, saying, “I’m sure you know a lot about.” With a hope-filled statement, Hovland shared how he has been close to victory despite struggling with his swing. Now, with the new coach, he aims to work on his shortcomings and better understand why he is struggling compared to his previous performance. He said, “I, at least, have a way better understanding and appreciation of what I used to do, even though there were certain aspects before that I didn’t necessarily love about my swing, like it looked quirkier or looked goofy. But now I have a better understanding biomechanically why those golf swings worked and why I am struggling now. So, I just know better now.”

He has got to know better because the world of golf is an unpredictable and cruel one, and the early part of the last season was a reminder of that. He found himself fighting relatable frustrations as he struggled with inconsistencies in his game. In the three starts that he has made, he’s finished T22, T58, and T19. Now, we are not saying that that is bad by any standard but it’s Hovland we are talking about here, come on!

Moving on, he shared during the interviews that “there’s a lot of good golf in there,” but he has got to give himself a “chance to hit some good shots.” And who wouldn’t want that for this year? The strategic change and affected performance of the golfer have led to many questions. And even after his season-long struggle, the mysterious coach change has been the biggest one.

Viktor Hovland’s mysterious decision to coach change
Hovland’s struggle after winning the Tour Championship was evident to everyone, and with that, he separated from the coach Mayo twice. However, it wasn’t truly because of the performance but has some other reasons too. Sharing about his separation, Hovland said during an interview, “We disagreed a bit about the way forward, what is best for me. I feel that I have learned so much now and have so much competence that I don’t need anyone to hold my hand anymore. It’s always good to have someone to watch what I’m doing, check out the steps I’m taking. So, I send some videos to another coach, but he’s more like a consultant. I am the one in charge of my own turn.”

He has earlier shared his concern about finding someone who could help him with the biomechanical and experiential side of golf. For that, we guess Yeaton has filled in the gap for him. While on the other side, Mayo wasn’t upset about the decision. In May 2024, after the duo split for the first time, he said, “I admit that I have a very strong personality. I am hard to take in large doses. That’s one of my many many flaws in life. I realize being around me (for) a year full time, like we were, is probably pretty tough. Without question, I know I am hard to handle for a long period of time. When he said he wanted to do it on his own, I was relieved.”