Viktor Hovland’s Conflicted Performance at the BMW PGA Championship

It is indeed tough to reconcile Viktor Hovland’s excellent position on the Wentworth leaderboard with the norwegian’s blunt assessment of his game. The 27-year-old claimed he hit certain shots on the West Course on Friday that “hurt my soul”.

Hovland has been in a state of technical flux all year, with his driving a particular cause for concern. He is perfectly candid about that,despite rounds of 67 and 66 at this PGA Championship. Hovland’s next start will come as part of team Europe in the Ryder Cup.

“It’s making the game a bit more stressful than it should be,” Hovland said. “It’s just frustrating as a golfer when this is my game. I step up and I have an intention of wanting to start the ball a certain height and start it left of the target and curve it, and then the ball starts high and right, complete opposite of what I’m trying to do. That’s just frustrating. But I know how to play. So I’m doing the best I can.

“I shot 80 at the Players earlier this year and I won the next week. I would rather not play the game of golf that way as that is not how I used to do it. obviously I like to focus on what I need to work on, but at the same time…