Winner’s Bag: Viktor Hovland – World Wide Technology Championship

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.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

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 20^th 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.
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.