Viktor Hovland’s great pursuits: A perfect golf swing and the truth about UFOs
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Viktor Hovland’s golf swing clicked at the right time. His search for the truth about UFOs? That’s still a work in progress.
Practicing on the driving range two days before the Ryder Cup begins Friday, the 28-year-old Norwegian said he suddenly felt freed up. When he reviewed his swing on video, “it looked definitely better than other swings that I’ve made lately.”
“Obviously this is a golf course that you have to drive it really well, and I’ve been kind of struggling with the driver,” Hovland said Thursday at Bethpage Black. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to stand on the range and just kind of beat balls fluidly, effortlessly without trying to feel like I’m steering it.”
That bodes well for Europe, which enters tournament play on Friday as underdogs on the U.S. team’s turf in front of what’s sure to be a raucous New York crowd. President Donald Trump will be there for part of it, adding to the frenzy.
About the UFOs: it’s a subject Hovland says he’s gotten deeper into in the last couple of years, piquing the curiosity of teammates and fans alike. The seven-time PGA Tour winner said it’s one way he takes his mind off golf.
And, he insists, the truth is out there.
“The more you go into it, you just get more questions,” Hovland said. “It’s one of those things that you don’t really find any more answers, but it’s very interesting to go in there and kind of challenge some of your beliefs that you currently hold.”
“You kind of have to expand your mind a little bit,” he said.
Hovland, one of golf’s most popular and affable stars, was eager to get back to practicing after rain soaked the course on Thursday morning. He said he wanted to make sure his newfound swing feel didn’t disappear overnight.
“I think we’ve all been there,” Hovland said. “We find a feel and think we’re back, and the next day it all falls apart.”
Acknowledging “some major struggles” with his game in recent seasons, Hovland desperately wants to return to the form he had in 2023, when he won three times on the PGA Tour and claimed the season-ending FedEx Cup.
He dropped from No. 4 in the world rankings the week of the last Ryder Cup, a win for Europe in Rome in 2023, to No. 12 currently. But, he said, ”I feel like despite that, I can still overcome that and play some really good golf.”
Hovland is frequently blunt and introspective, and his session with reporters Thursday volleyed from questions about his swing to his fascination with the prospect of otherworldly beings, spurred by a comment his friend and teammate Ludvig Åberg made to reporters on Wednesday.
“Ludvig said that you like to talk about UFOs. What’s up with that?” a reporter asked.
“What’s up with that?” Hovland responded, smiling and prompting laughs. “Yeah, that’s the question, isn’t it? What is up with that?”
Åberg, for his part, said that while he indulges Hovland’s UFO talk, “I’m not quite down that road just yet. If I hang out with him long enough, I might be.”
“He’s a funny guy to have funny conversations with,” Åberg said. “They can go in any direction that you don’t really expect.”
In some ways, pursuing a perfect golf swing and eternal questions about flying saucers and extraterrestrial life are a lot alike, both requiring curiosity and patience.
In golf, he said, “you just look at your golf swing and you’re trying to practice hard and you don’t really get the results that you want, it can be quite frustrating.”
As a Ryder Cup rookie in 2021, Hovland went 0-3-2 en route to a 19-9 European loss at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. In 2023, he went 3-1-1 as Europe prevailed 16.5 to 11.5.
“I felt like I was maybe more timid as a rookie playing on foreign soil,” Hovland said of his first Ryder Cup. “I think I played just a bit more insecure maybe but after 2023, my best season of my career, I felt just more excitement.”
This time there’s the added factor of a New York crowd — famously loud and ruthless toward opposing players, whether from the Boston Red Sox or Team Europe. Hovland, quirky as ever, said he has an antidote for that.
“If you play well, you know, there’s going to be some comments here and there,” he said. “They won’t really come close to the thoughts that I have in my own head. So I think I’ll just laugh it off for the most part.”
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AP Ryder Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/ryder-cup
By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press
