Viktor Hovland knows “good vibes” are earned at the Memorial, not given

Viktor Hovland remained humble ahead of the Memorial because he knows prior success means nothing at Jack’s place.

Viktor Hovland, the defending champion at the Memorial Tournament, has had a subpar start to his 2024 season. But he returns to Muirfield Village, where he beat Denny McCarthy in a playoff, fresh off a solid performance at the PGA Championship.

His success here last year catapulted him up the FedEx Cup rankings. Hovland then went on a heater and won two more times, during back-to-back weeks in August at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.

However, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy knows last year’s results do not mean anything.

“This golf course doesn’t care about your memories or good vibes,” Hovland said.

“It’s going to punish you and bring you down if you miss it on the wrong sides. It’s one of the hardest courses we play all year, so you have to bring your A game, whether you’re a defending champion or not.”

The average score at the Memorial Tournament last year was 74.9, nearly three shots over par. Expect the average to hover around that again this year, as Jack Nicklaus loves to test the best players on his course.

Similar to 2023, Hovland is coming into this week with some momentum. His last start came at Valhalla, where he finished solo third.

Before that top-5 finish, Hovland missed the cut at The Masters. His best result came at the Genesis Invitational, where he tied for 19th.

The 6-time PGA Tour winner went from being one of the best players in the world to struggling to make cuts. Before the season-opening event at The Sentry, Hovland and coach Joe Mayo parted ways. Then, from January to May, he employed three different swing coaches.

Ahead of Valhalla, he traveled to Las Vegas and began working with Mayo again. Hovland immediately saw results at the PGA Championship, as he looked like his old self.

“I was super proud about that week. After not playing very good golf the first few months of the year, it was nice to turn something around,” he said.

“As soon as I found a shot that I knew where the ball was going and I could get myself around the golf course, I was immediately up in contention. That was cool to see that it wasn’t going to be a project that was going to take two or three months. It was a nice little feel that got me to hit the ball better immediately.”

For the first two rounds, Hovland will play with 2024 PGA Championship winner, Xander Schauffele. They will begin their first round at 10:20 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.