When Viktor Hovland held up the Valspar Championship trophy, you would think you are looking at a golfer on top of his game. But when you look at the last year-and-a-half of Hovland’s career, it has been anything but smooth.

After his 2023 FedEx Cup Championship, Hovland has gone through a ton of swing coaches who have failed to get his game back to where he was in 2023. Back when he was causing major issues for the United States in the Ryder Cup, and thought to be one of the up-and-coming players on the PGA Tour.

Since that moment, it hasn’t gone accordingly to plan; however, Hovland was able to put the misery behind him and find a way to gut out a come-from-behind win in the final round of the tournament Sunday, his first win of 2025.

“It’s been quite the struggle the past year-and-a-half, so for me to come back and win this tournament is quite incredible,” Hovland said. “I was not very hopeful with my game leading into this week. Just goes to show this game is pretty crazy.

“Wasn’t sure I was going to show up, but I’m glad I did.”

Hovland has been extremely vocal with his struggles in the game of golf, and considering the constant changes he was making in his swing, and with his coach, you had to wonder if Hovland would ever find his way back into the winner’s circle. After all, Hovland had missed more cuts than he had made in 2025 before his win Sunday in Florida. With that said, you can understand why he was a little skeptical on his overall ability to win.

“I honestly did not believe I could do it this week,” Hovland said.

The win was nice, and had to feel satisfying for a player who has struggled to be able to grind his way through the toughest time of his career, but don’t think for a second Hovland was content with his play throughout the four rounds of play at the Valspar.

“I hit a lot of disgusting shots, but they happened to go where I looked,” Hovland said. “Somehow I was able to hit the good shots I can a lot more often.”

Hovland’s finish to the tournament was remarkable, coming from two strokes back of Justin Thomas to close out the victory. “The Snake Pit”, which are holes 16, 17, and 18, are considered some of the most difficult at the Innisbrook Resort Course. Thomas played “The Snake Pit” two-over par Sunday, while Hovland played it at two-under par.

It turned out to be the difference in the tournament, and Thomas realizes he’s had plenty of opportunities this season, but hasn’t been able to cash in yet.

“I’ve had plenty of chances this season, but nothing quite like that,” said Thomas, whose last victory was the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

“I felt so good out there, so excited for every shot,” he said. “Hell, there’s not much I can do. He birdied 16 and 17. I obviously made it a lot easier. It’s really hard — but really fun — trying to win golf tournaments.”

Sunday pitted two well-known players who were fighting to right their personal ships by winning for the first time in a long time, and it was Hovland who slayed that proverbial dragon before Thomas. Hovland might not approve of the state of his game/swing at the current moment, but he absolutely has to be pleased with the result. As for Thomas, the wait for him to hoist a trophy continues, but I’m sure he’d be more than happy to not hoist a trophy, but put on a jacket, at Augusta National in just a couple weeks at The Masters.

Jeff Hartman is the host of the Fairways & Dreams podcast, and you can hear the latest podcast in the player below talking all about grinding through the pitfalls of golf, and the latest news and notes in the game of golf.