PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — At the WM Phoenix Open, it was a set of pool floaties. On Thursday at the Genesis Invitational, it was a resistance band. Viktor Hovland is not afraid of a good training aid, no matter how unconventional it looks.
Oddly enough, both the floaties and the resistance band served the same purpose, as Hovland explained following a first-round 69 (T-12) at Riviera Country Club. The resistance band, however, was a bit more helpful. And looked a little less whacky.
“I feel like that actually made it easier for me to find something tangible that I could take out on the golf course,” Hovland said of the band drill, which PGA Tour Live cameras captured during his early-morning range session.
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Last week, water wings.
This week, the band.
Next week? Who knows?
Viktor Hovland is getting dialed for @TheGenesisInv as Viktor Hovland does.
📺 PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/LUDltmQACo
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2026
The floaties certainly helped, too. Hovland finished T-10 at the Phoenix Open, where he gained over four strokes on approach, which ranked him fifth in the field that week. While he did not get the result he wanted at Pebble Beach (T-58), he struck his irons nicely again. That continued on Thursday, with Hovland gaining 2.4 strokes tee-to-green, per datagolf, ranking him seventh in the field.
“Trying to just get a little bit wider in the downswing, not trying to pull my arms as close to me,” said Hovland. “That’s what the floaties were for, trying to get some space in the downswing. It was just hard to feel that when I took the floaties away.
“But the band, it forces your body to push against the tension and then when you take it away, it’s like wow, that’s what it’s supposed to feel like. We’re not quite all there yet even though this is a great round of golf, but that was a huge step in the right direction.”
Not quite all there yet is a place where Hovland lives. Following his most recent PGA Tour win at the Valspar Championship last year, the 28-year-old said he “honestly did not believe” he could win that week, adding that he didn’t have his best stuff and he hit a lot of “disgusting” shots. Such is life for one of the game’s ultimate tinkerers.
Even more encouraging for Hovland on Thursday was the way he hit driver, an area he’s struggled with in his two starts this year.
“It was a lot better than it has been the past few months I’d say just in terms of just ball-striking off the tee was really good with my driver,” he said. “Hit a lot of fairways, hit a decent amount of greens and gave myself a lot of looks. Didn’t feel like the putter was quite there today, but my short game made up for some misses and yeah, overall, or all in all a very good day.”
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Hovland sits four off the lead of Aaron Rai, who reached six under before play was suspended due to darkness on Thursday. Being able to complete his round despite a rain delay, and the fact he has a later tee time Friday, gives him a nice advantage on the guys who will have to return early in the morning to finish their first round and then head right back out for their second. In other words, plenty of extra time to tinker on the range with some floaties, or a resistance band, or nothing at all. With Viktor Hovland, it really depends on the day.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
