LOS ANGELES – Viktor Hovland might feel like he’s swimming upstream at times with his golf swing, but in this case, the unique training aid he’s employed recently has nothing to do with making strokes and everything to do with lowering them.
Hovland, like many, got a kick out of watching his latest viral video, which depicted him wearing pool floaties on both arms on the range at TPC Scottsdale.
While Nick Faldo had done similar decades ago, Hovland said the idea came to him during the second round of the WM Phoenix Open, so he summoned his caddie, Shay Knight, to Wal-Mart to buy the flotation devices.
“My problem’s been that I’ve been pulling the arms so hard, and back in the day, I used to have way more space around my arms,” Hovland explained on Tuesday at Riviera, site of this week’s Genesis Invitational. “So, if I had something in the way, I was hoping that was going to make it easier to get the arms out and away from the body. It did help, for sure. … I think it was a good idea; low key called myself a genius for coming up with it.”
Just keep swimming 🐟pic.twitter.com/AgWNMiknuu
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) February 14, 2026
Hovland tied for 10th in Scottsdale before slipping to a T-58 last week at Pebble Beach. While Hovland didn’t putt well the final round at Pebble, the main culprit right now is the driver. He’s lost nearly six strokes off the tee in eight measure rounds this year as he continues to switch between models of Ping drivers and experimenting with different shaft lengths.
“The driver has really got to be figured out,” Hovland said two weeks ago. “I got to put the ball in play. When the ball is going so far left and right, it’s going to get me in the end.”
Hovland has worn out the range already this week, splitting his work into two sessions on Tuesday, the latter of which ran right up to a 5 p.m. player meeting in the clubhouse. Hovland was the last man on the practice area when he wrapped up on the far left side of the range. At one point, he had four drivers out to test.
Good news for Hovland is that in four starts at Riv, he’s not finished outside the top 20. And like we saw last year at Valspar, just when it feels like he’s completely lost with something in his game, he can find it quickly and win.