Viktor Hovland’s finish to 2021 couldn’t have gone any better as the young star won his final two starts at Mayakoba and in the Bahamas to climb to No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now in another tropical paradise, however, his start to 2022 hasn’t gone quite as smoothly.

After getting to the PGA Tour’s first event of the year more than a week early, Hovland shared that his most valuable possessions had yet to arrive at Kapalua:

Although this was a snag in his tournament preparation, Hovland seemed to remain in good spirits. Probably in part because he’s in Hawaii. And six days later, Hovland was happy to report his clubs had made it just in time for the tournament:

But … there was just one problem. One big problem …

That’s a bad break. Literally.

On the bright side, if anyone is able to handle such an issue, it should be Hovland. Not just because of his chill demeanour and the fact that he’s emerged as the Resort Golf King, but because he already handled a similar situation in the fall.

On the eve of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in November, fellow tour pro Danny Lee broke Hovland’s driver while testing it out on the range. How did Hovland respond? By winning the tournament using James Hahn’s replacement driver.

So don’t count the 24-year-old Norwegian out of the Sentry Tournament of Champions just yet. The way he’s playing, he could probably still win using a rental set from the Kapalua clubhouse.