THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2023

Viktor Hovland

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Great round today. How would you assess how things went for you today?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it was good. I had a little bit of an up-and-down start making two bogeys early, and I made a birdie on 3, kind of felt like momentum was coming my way, giving the shot back immediately on 3, making another birdie on 4 and then making another bogey again on 5 was a little frustrating. But after that I hit a lot of really good shots and just made a lot of really easy birdies. Then, yeah, just was in really good control of my game, I just couldn't quite make the last few putts.

Q. The second shot on 5, going into the green then after that --

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean it was, I actually hit a really good shot. It was just one of those where I tried to kind of cut up against the wind to the right pin, and now that I'm actually able to hit cuts, I aimed just too far away from the pin because I was expecting the wind to blow it over to the left. But the ball just went dead straight through the wind. Obviously I left myself in a really tough spot there.

Q. You talked about the wind. How were you able to deal with that on the back nine because the wind was really picking up. It seemed like you were able to handle that pretty well.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, some of the things that I've been working on, I'm really getting in good control of my ball flight. I can hit those kind of low penetrating shots. I can hold it up against the wind. Even if the wind is off the left and I like to hit that cut, I have no problem aiming way left and just kind of letting the fade ride with the wind. So it just feels like I've got a lot of control over the golf ball.

Q. This is now your second consecutive year a very high finish here. How have you been able to get a feel for this golf course?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think number one out here, you've got to have control of your golf ball. You've got to know where to miss it because there's a lot of water, there's a lot of very intimidating tee shots and even second shots. That's what Pete Dye does. He really puts a lot of stress on you.

I was just able to kind of trust that I can start the ball over water or danger and just curve it away from there. That's very valuable out here. Just haven't quite put all the pieces together to be at the top, but another good week here.

Q. On a lighter note, green all four days this week. Is there a meaning behind that, or is that just coincidence?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I don't know, I just wear what they tell me to wear. Kind of made an audible; they wanted me to wear the green pants again today, and I kind of had enough of that.