Viktor Hovland prepares to unveil his reengineered swing

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — To anyone watching from the outside, Viktor Hovland’s swing one year ago was a thing of beauty, producing crisp, accurate shots that led to an opening-round 65 at the Masters and kept him in contention until the back nine on Sunday.

Helped him win the BMW Championship and Tour Championship in consecutive weeks, too.

But to Hovland, an almost obsessive tinkerer, something wasn’t quite right. And the six-time winner on the PGA Tour began to wonder, in his words, whether he had reached “the pinnacle of what my golf swing was able to do.”

So, he decided to find out.

In a surprising move for a player at the top of the game, Hovland parted with his swing coach, Joe Mayo. He began seeking advice from others, including former professional Grant Waite, and this week — as he returned to Augusta National still in search of his first major championship — Hovland was spotted working with instructor Dana Dahlquist.

“I’m still kind of looking for some opinions out there, but I feel like I’m on a good track now,” said Hovland, who has shown glimpses of it this season. The 26-year-old from Norway shot three rounds in the 60s and finished tied for 22nd at Kapalua in January and shot four rounds under par to finish in the top 20 a month later at Riviera.

“It’s like you’re trying to work on something, but it doesn’t necessarily feel exactly right, and then that’s when you kind of have to go back to the drawing board to keep figuring out until things start to click,” he said. “I feel like I’m in that situation now. Now I just have to keep practicing and get the reps in and we’ll see how long that takes.”

Whenever Hovland arrives at Augusta National and sees the green jackets, he hopes to earn one.

But just being here is special, he said.

“It is a pretty special jacket and just to be d with this place in any way, that’s pretty cool,” he said. “Just being here is pretty special, so I’m trying to enjoy that and certainly have to take care of a lot of stuff until we get there, hopefully, on Sunday. But, yeah, just enjoying every minute.”

Still, it’s a stressful week, so what is it about the club or the course that brings him delight or joy?

“You just feel the atmosphere or the history in the walls. It’s, like, as soon as you enter the property, it’s like a spiritual experience, if anything,” he said. “Like, you just feel the emotions and you feel like you’re on very – just at a different place and you all the other Masters championships that have been played here before. You the highlights. Yeah, it’s just cool to be a part of that, so there’s just a lot of gratitude and just excitement to get the tournament going and hopefully put your name in that list as well, so just super exciting to be here.”

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