Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland, two men badly in need of a win, were tied at nine under par through 11 holes at the Valspar Championship. After Thomas made four birdies in five holes, he held a three-shot lead. Hovland, however, did not relent, responding with three birdies in a four-hole stretch to snatch the lead and the tournament.
The difference came from a Thomas bogey-Hovland birdie two-shot swing at the 16th followed by Thomas missing a birdie try at the par-3 17th followed by Hovland knocking a 5-iron on the 222-yard hole to 12 feet and holing the putt.
The iron play was strong all week for Hovland, as he finished seventh in greens in regulation and sixth in strokes gained/approach the green with his Ping i210 irons with KBS Tour-V 120X shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips.
On the greens Hovland uses a Ping PLD DS72 prototype that has a stepless 36-inch shaft and 3 degrees of loft. In addition to ranking second in strokes gained/putting (gaining more than seven shots on the field), he ranked ninth in putts per green in regulation while averaging 86 feet of putts made per round, ranked eighth.
Hovland came to Innisbrook having missed his last three cuts but his attitude did not reflect his on-course woes.
“It’s golf, it’s a crazy game,” he said after the third round. “I do think this type of golf course really fits me right now. It’s not like you have to bomb the drivers everywhere, it’s more of a positioning golf course. I do feel like I can hit some nice iron shots that end up close to the hole, because my even though I haven’t been swinging it all that great my stats with the irons have been pretty decent the last few weeks. So, at a golf course like this I still feel like I can give myself a lot of looks for birdie.”
As it turns out, one more than Thomas and good enough for his first win since the 2023 Tour Championship.
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G425 LST (Fujikura Speeder TR 661-TX), 8.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 15 degrees
Irons: (3): Titleist U505; (4-PW): Ping i210
Wedges: Ping s159 (50, 56 degrees); Ping Glide 2.0 (60 degrees)
Putter: Ping PLD DS72
