Viktor Hovland's victory bid suffers setback with costly bunker mishap at The Sentry 2024
Viktor Hovland's 2023 season ended on a high note, as he picked up the BMW Championship and Tour Championship wins in a back-to-back show of skill and talent. With high expectations of winning his first ever Major this year, the 2024 PGA Tour season holds a lot of potential for Hovland.
However, his year isn't off to the greatest start, especially seeing his unfortunate mishap at the season opening The Sentry 2024. Hovland started off his first two rounds with a score of 65 and 67 and was in contention to possibly win the tournament.
Viktor Hovland recorded a triple bogey on the 14th hole during the third round of the tournament. The first thinned bunker shot led him to drop down 12 places on the leaderboard. Hovland drove the ball and made it land in the sand on the right side of the green.
He then proceeded to miss his bunker shot, his ball landing in the thick rough. To make matters worse, Hovland had to take a penalty shot to reach the green.
In the end, he missed his putt and finished the hole at a costly 3 over par. At the end of the third round, Hovland now sits in 17th place with an overall score of -1.
Viktor Hovland makes abrupt split from coach Joe Mayo ahead of The Sentry 2024
Ahead of the The Sentry 2024, Hovland announced that he would no longer be working with his swing coach Joe Mayo. The news caught many people by surprise. According to Golf Channel's Todd Lewis:
“Viktor Hovland is no longer working with his swing coach Joe Mayo. Hovland did not want to get into details regarding the split. Last year Viktor worked with Mayo to change his short game mechanics and improved 91 positions in strokes gained around the greens from 2022 to 2023.”
As the duo began working together in 2023, there were visible improvements in his game. The split was unexpected, and Victor Hovland has not announced a new coach yet. His chances of winning The Sentry 2024, however, have reduced drastically since the beginning of the tournament.