Courting to his newbie days, Viktor Hovland has all the time been a curious cat.
He as soon as spent 20 minutes on his cellphone studying a philosophical debate about affirmative motion earlier than scarfing down some lunch and heading again out to finish the second half of his 2018 U.S. Beginner victory at Pebble Seashore.
So, as Hovland has spent a lot of this yr trying to find solutions to his golf swing, it’s come as little shock the reasoning: “I’m a curious man,” Hovland informed the Instances of London final week, including that he “had a bit of an excessive amount of management” of his golf swing after a scorching end to final yr that noticed him win twice and never end outdoors the highest 10 in every of his last 5 begins.
“For my very own sake,” Hovland defined, “I needed to know what’s on the opposite aspect.”
Hovland cut up with teacher Joe Mayo late final yr, then reunited in Might after lacking the reduce on the Masters and withdrawing from the RBC Heritage the next week. He completed third on the PGA, his first occasion again with Mayo, however that is still his solely top-10 end to this point. But regardless of his struggles, Hovland is among the many favorites for this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon. In three begins within the sport’s oldest championship, Hovland hasn’t completed worse than T-13. He’s coming off a T-46 exhibiting on the Genesis Scottish Open, which adopted a run of three top-20s in 4 occasions sparked by that PGA efficiency. Although the quick recreation has been ugly, Hovland is No. 10 in strokes gained off the tee whereas rating inside the highest 50 on method and in placing.
With some discoveries seemingly made along with his golf recreation, it’s certainly given Hovland extra time to digest different data. Hovland’s interview with the Instances additionally revealed the Norwegians present curiosities past golf, whether or not or not it’s with extraterrestrials or the afterlife.
“It’s like, what’s the take care of all of the aliens?” Hovland stated. “There appear to be some pilots and commanders that specify what they noticed and have video footage of it, so it’s like, ‘Huh, what’s that?’ I discover the reluctance to speak about that stuff fascinating. The conspiracy is one factor however then additionally the response to it. What do you suppose occurs after we die? We don’t know. The institution will say, ‘Your neurons will cease firing. Your physique will rot.’ OK, that’s one clarification however, when you take a look at our ancestors, there’s an enormous tradition that goes into making ready for the afterlife. Have been they simply idiots or had been they onto one thing? I’m simply curious to seek out out. We’ve gotten offered that now we have all of the solutions however there’s simply a lot we don’t know.
“I discover these questions tremendous motivating and I simply need to determine it out.”
