Viktor Hovland’s bringing back one of his most interesting tricks at Kapalua – that distinctive double-pump backswing with his driver.
If you watched him on Saturday at The Sentry, you might’ve caught it. It’s pretty wild to watch: he actually pauses his backswing twice before letting it rip.
Name
Events
Top 10
Money
Viktor Hovland
114
27
$31,306,505
This isn’t new for Hovland. He first showed it off back in 2018 at the Porsche European Open when he was still playing as an amateur. While the PGA Tour Live guys were saying it’s all about getting more distance, there’s actually more to the story.
Here’s the real deal: Hovland came up with this move to fix a problem. Back at the 2018 U.S. Amateur (which he ended up winning), he explained that his backswing was getting too long, causing some nasty slices off the tee. The pause happens right where his backswing should naturally stop.
“I found that when I stopped, I positioned my swing to where I can feel a draw,” Hovland said at the time. “My drives were going way straighter and farther, and so thought I might as well just try it in the tournament.”
He actually dropped the double-pump move by the time he got to Pebble Beach that same year. But it’s popped up now and then since then – especially when he’s trying to work the ball right-to-left or when he’s facing a wide-open fairway.
The trade-off? He can get up to 15 extra yards of distance, but it’s not as accurate as his regular swing.
