Norway's Viktor Hovland successfully defended his crown in Mexico on Sunday after a strange incident required a replacement driver before the event got underway. Here is what the now three-time PGA Tour winner had in his bag.
WINNING SCORE: 23-under-par, 261.
EQUIPMENT CHOICE:
DRIVER: PING G425 LST with 9˚ loft, fitted with Fujikura Speeder 661 shaft.
3 WOOD: TaylorMade SIM with 15˚ loft, with Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei Blue AV Raw 85 TX shaft.
IRONS: PING i210 (3-iron to pitching wedge), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-85 X Hybrid (3) and KBS Tour V 120 X (4-PW) shafts.
WEDGES: PING Glide Forged Pro (50˚-SS & 56˚-SS) and Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks SM8 (60˚), with KBS Tour V 130 X shafts.
PUTTER: PING PLD Prototype.
BALL: Titleist Pro V1.
EQUIPMENT NOTES:
Eagle eyed observers will notice a number of changes to the Norwegian’s setup since his first win on the European Tour earlier this year, although the most bizarre is one was caused out of necessity. During a practise session on Wednesday, Hovland gave his driver to Danny Lee to hit as the Kiwi was going through a speed training session it was reported. Lee’s recoil snapped Hovland’s driver into pieces requiring the hunt for a replacement for the 2020 winner of this event. Due to the event being in Mexico, with no PING truck on site, a matching G425 LST driver was borrowed from another player with the same loft and similar weight shaft. The change didn’t seem to cause too much stress, the 24-year-old ranking 20th in driving distance for the week and T4 for accuracy off the tee.
- The other major change to Hovland’s bag of late is the reinsertion of his i210 PING irons into play after a stint playing a combo set of iBlade and i59 irons earlier in 2021. A player cavity that was popular with both Tour players and amateur golfers, the i210 had been a mainstay in Hovland’s bag for his professional career before switching to the new i59. Normally a player who carries a driving iron, including a Callaway model regularly in the past, Hovland switched to a matching i210 3-iron recently with a graphite utility shaft. The change likely to fulfil the standard PING Tour contract requiring 12 of the manufacturer’s clubs including driver and putter in the bag.
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Hovland’s putter was hot all week, which combined with his exemplary ball-striking makes him an incredibly hard player to beat. The flatstick is a one-off milled mallet model with grooves in the face to replicate the TaylorMade putter he used during his amateur career and features a rusted finish. -
The former Oklahoma State University player’s win is the fifth consecutive victory for non-American players on the PGA Tour and the third from seven events for Titleist golf balls so far in the new season.
QUOTE: “I've had my best year off the tee strokes gained with the one that I had before it broke, so I don't really see a point in changing that driver, but I could see myself using maybe this setup at certain courses, for sure.” – Viktor Hovland on his new driver.
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