Viktor Hovland Rallies from 6 Shots Back to Win the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas

By Zack R., Team Titleist Staff On 6 December 2021 Balls Tour Clubs

PGA TOUR | Hero World Challenge

Playing a Pro V1 golf ball, Viktor Hovland holed his second shot for eagle from a greenside bunker on Albany Golf Club’s 14th hole, his third eagle of the week at the drivable par-4, on his way to a Sunday 6-under 66 and one-shot victory in the Bahamas.

  • Hovland, who started the day six shots off the lead, made it back-to-back eagles after sinking a 30-footer for 3 on the par-5 15th.
  • Hovland’s short birdie putt on the par-4 16th capped a three-hole, 5-under stretch that vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard, where he would remain.
  • The win was Hovland’s second in a row, following last month’s victory at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

HOVLAND’S THIRD WIN WITH 2021 PRO V1

  • The Hero World Challenge marked Viktor Hovland's third victory worldwide since moving to the 2021 Pro V1 golf ball.
  • Hovland – now No. 7 in the World Ranking – decided to make the switch in late April at the Zurich Classic, after using the ball on the range and during short-game practice at TOUR events, having noticed faster ball speeds with the driver and more control into and around the green. 
  • Said Hovland: “Around the greens I was able to get more spin, which is huge when you’re playing greens that are firm and fast. I don’t care how high you are launching it, you need spin to get the ball to stop. So, that was a big thing. But then as well with the driver, I started to notice the ball speeds were a little higher, and it wasn’t like it was just coming off hotter with more spin. It was faster and, if anything, maybe spinning a hair less with the driver. So overall, I picked up a couple of extra yards, which is nice. And then with the longer irons going into greens, I didn’t feel like it was under spinning or anything. It still maintained that very similar look as what I’ve been used to. So I thought it was great. At the end of the day, you need to hit the shot. But it helps when you have a ball that can optimize what you’re doing. If you can put the same swing and get another extra couple of yards off the tee, that’s huge because you literally just got better like that.”

HOVLAND ON PRO V1 CONSISTENCY

  • “I just always grew up with the Titleist Pro V1 feel and always loved it. There was not a thought in my head that occurred, ‘Oh, I should maybe try a different ball.’ Why would I? I was really happy with the consistency. I think there’s always been this consensus that you go in the pro shop and you buy a sleeve of balls, you’re going to get the same ball as the last time you bought the sleeve of balls. I think that consistency gives you that reassurance that you know what you’re going to get.”

HOW VIKTOR HOVLAND MARKS HIS PRO V1

  • “I usually just put a line on it, a black line, because I cannot putt without this, literally cannot aim. So I usually just try to get it as square as I can, fill up the whole area. I see a lot of guys put a bunch of circles or just random stuff on there. I feel like if I just have a black line, that’s unique enough because usually everyone else puts other stuff on there, so I just keep it simple.”

WINNER’S HOLE-OUT EAGLE: PRO V1, 60-DEGREE VOKEY WEDGE

  • In addition to his Pro V1 golf ball, the winner of the Hero World Challenge gamed a Vokey Design SM8 WedgeWorks 60T wedge, which he used to make a key hole-out eagle from a greenside bunker on Albany GC’s driveable par-4 14th hole Sunday.
  • “The bunker shot on 14 was not very easy. The ball was sitting down and I was contemplating hitting more out to the right so I would give myself more green because if it comes out dead with no spin, it’s rolling off the green,” the winner said in his post-round press conference. “But I decided to just give it some extra speed, which has kind of been one of the things I’ve been struggling with around the greens. If it’s a high-pressure situation, I tend to hit it soft and kind of, you know, punt it more instead of going for the open face and hit it hard and I decided to do that there and it worked out.”

LPGA | LPGA Final Qualifying

The opening four rounds of the 144-hole LPGA Final Qualifying tournament concluded Sunday with Titleist golf ball players occupying the top six, 13 of the top 15, and 33 of the top 35 positions on the leaderboard.

  • Seventy-four players made the cut, moving on to next week’s final 72 holes on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
  • The top 45 players will receive LPGA membership for the 2022 season with the remainder receiving Symetra Tour status.
  • The current leader – the reigning 2021 SEC Player of the Year from the University of South Carolina – plays a Pro V1x Left Dash golf ball, TSi3 10.0° driver, TSi2 15.0° fairway, NEW T200 3-iron, 620 CB 5-9 irons and four Vokey Design SM8 wedges.

SUNSHINE TOUR | South African Open

Rolling his Pro V1x golf ball in for birdie from 20 feet on the 72nd hole, Titleist Brand Ambassador Danie Van Tonder claimed his national Open by a single stroke over countryman and fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Oliver Bekker.

  • Van Tonder – playing a full bag of Titleist equipment, including NEW T100 irons – made eight birdies in his closing 7-under 65, including two in the final three holes to card Sunday’s lowest round.
  • The South African Open is among the oldest open golf championships, having first teed off in 1903.
  • Typically co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour), the tournament went ahead solely as a Sunshine Tour event following Covid-19 international travel restrictions.
  • Eighty percent (125) of players at Sun City relied on a Titleist golf ball for their success, more than five times the nearest competitor (16).

What’s in Danie Van Tonder’s Titleist Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: TSi3 8.0°
Fairway Metals: TSi2 13.5° & 18.0°
Irons: NEW T100 3-PW
Wedges: Vokey Design SM8 WedgeWorks 50.08F, 64W
Putter: Scotty Cameron Futura 5MB tour prototype

JAPAN TOUR | Golf Nippon Series JT Cup

Playing a Scotty Cameron Select Golo S tour prototype putter, the winner of the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup made a par-saving putt on the 18th hole Sunday to win the Japan Tour’s season finale by two shots.

  • He finished fourth in putting average (1.712) while claiming his second victory in the last four starts.

KIM TOPS ORDER OF MERIT

Pro V1x loyalist Chan Kim, who claimed the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in 2020, topped the Japan Tour’s Order of Merit.

  • Kim finished the 2020-21 combined season with eight top-6 finishes and three wins, with two of those victories coming in the last two months.
  • Kim recently finished T-15 at the PGA TOUR’s Zozo Championship.
  • He’s also played in the last three major championships, making the cut at the PGA Championship (T-23) and Open Championship (T-53).

PGA TOUR LATINOAMÉRICA | 115 VISA Argentine Open

Jorge Fernandez-Valdes, playing a Pro V1 golf ball and full bag of Titleist equipment, closed in 2-under 70 to win the the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s 2021-22 season opener by three shots.

  • The win – the fourth of his career on tour – earned Fernandez-Valdes a spot in the Open Championship at St. Andrews next summer.

What’s in Jorge Fernandez-Valdes’ Titleist Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TSi3 10.0°
Fairway Metal: TS2 15.0°
Utility Iron: 716 T-MB (2)
Irons: 620 CB (4-6) and 620 MB (7-PW)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM8 52.08F, 54.14F, 58.08M
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M tour prototype

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