Rory McIlroy's simplicity and the curious case of Viktor Hovland

When it comes to this fickle sport called golf, the old saying “different strokes for different folks” holds true when it comes to the pursuit of perfection and golfing immortality.

Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, who shares a combined 35 PGA Tour victories and four FedExCup titles between them, offer an interesting glimpse as to how the mind works for some of today’s top golf stars in their hunt for the most glittering prizes.

With spring in the air, which means the Masters Tournament is around the corner, McIlroy is once again eyeing the coveted green jacket handed to the champion every year. The Masters has become his holy grail for over the past decade as he dreams of completing a career Grand Slam and joining an elite group comprising of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only men to win all four major championships.

A second victory at The Players Championship two weeks ago for his 28th Tour victory has no doubt amped up McIlroy’s aspirations. His game is peaking nicely and his confidence oozing, and this will also be the first time the World No. 2 will enter the Masters with two victories under his belt following a masterful win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

The early season success has been largely due to a new dimension that he has introduced into his game and approach. In previous years, McIlroy was often reliant on an outstanding ability to unleash ferocious drives that fly a mile, but he showed at Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass that a new “three-quarter, three-quarter” iron shot has complemented his artillery of firepower and proven decisive, especially during his three-hole aggregate playoff win over J.J. Spaun at The Players.

This controlled and low flighted iron shot allows for greater navigation in the wind, which was on full display as he hit a glorious 9-iron into the island 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, which found land, while Spaun splashed his tee shot into water as his title hopes sank.

“I said to Harry (Diamond, McIlroy’s caddie) there, that shot is going to take us a long way,” the 35-year-old McIlroy told the media. “I've become really comfortable with that shot, so even in conditions like this, I feel like I've got everything pretty much under control, which is a really nice feeling. I feel like I'm a better player now than I ever have been. I feel like I can play all conditions and in anything that comes my way."

Seeing how Scottie Scheffler ran off with a stunning seven Tour wins and the Olympic Games gold medal last season has also taught him a thing or two. McIlroy is now trying to emulate the American World No. 1 with a similar measured approach on the golf course and curbing what he calls “impulses”, which cost him the US Open title last summer.

“I'm just trying to get the ball in play any way I can, but then also I feel like this week, because there's so much trouble, just picking really conservative targets, especially with iron shots,” he said at TPC Sawgrass.  “By no means did I have my best stuff but I was still able to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world. That's a huge thing.”

While McIlroy’s new and successful approach has been rather straight forward with the introduction of a new shot and a change in mindset, Hovland has proven to be the opposite. However, it does appear to be working for the 27-year-old despite frustrations and countless hours on the range to find the missing pieces in his golf swing, or feel that he so craves for.

Hovland is a self-confessed addict to self-improvements, so much so that after winning the 2023 FedExCup, he went into a rabbit hole by going through multiple swing instructors, studied new theories and golf mechanics that his form dipped in 2024 with only two top-10s to show for. He’s currently on a second spell with swing coach Grant Waite, a former Tour winner. “We are here to get better and we are here to win tournaments. So, if you're not going to try to get better, what are you doing?” he said.

After missing a third successive cut at The Players, which included a disastrous 80 at the Tour’s flagship event, Hovland reluctantly teed up at the Valspar Championship in the next week and voila, he won by one from Justin Thomas for his seventh Tour victory. His swing of the week withstood the pressure on Sunday afternoon that he birdied three of the last five holes.

The Norwegian tinkerer insists he is a work in progress, which his caddie Shay Knight concurs. “He’s very hard on himself, but he is a perfectionist,” said Knight.

Hovland added: “Golf is, it's been my life for a long time, it's what consumes my thoughts and my time, so if I'm not spending that time to do it correctly, then what am I doing?”

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The writer is senior director, marketing & communications – APAC for the PGA Tour. Fans can watch McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler compete in the Texas Children’s Houston Open this week on DAZN.