Viktor Hovland secured his return to the winner’s circle thanks to late flurry of birdies to clinch a narrow one-shot victory at a tightly-contested Valspar Championship in Florida.
The 27-year-old Norwegian entered the final round at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course as part of a three-way tie alongside America’s Jacob Bridgeman and Colombia’s Nicolas Echavarria. In a congested leaderboard that saw nine players have a share of the lead at some point during the final round, Hovland and England’s Justin Thomas managed to break away and create a gap but it was Thomas who took control up until the 13th with four birdies in five holes to give himself a three-shot advantage over Hovland.
However, the former FedExCup winner produced a sublime comeback thanks to a run of three birdies in a five-hole stretch with Thomas stumbling at 16 and 18 to card a four-under 67, finish on 11 under, and pip Thomas to earn his seventh career PGA TOUR victory.
“I hit a lot of disgusting shots, but they just happened to go where I looked,” Hovland said. “Somehow I was able to hit the good shots I can a lot more often.”
“I honestly did not believe I could do it this week,” he said. “There was a bunch of guys tied at the end of my front nine. I heard some noise ahead and I knew he was probably up in front… I knew I had to make some birdies coming in.”
It is Hovland’s first triumph on the PGA TOUR since the 2023 TOUR Championship and gives him much needed form and confidence ahead of the first major of the season after he failed to make the cut in his past three appearances.
Thomas, whose last victory on the PGA TOUR came at the 2022 PGA Championship, saw the positive side following his narrow miss.
“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.”
Bridgeman completed the top three on 9 under following a final-round 69 while Echavarria dropped off significantly to finish T-16.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Texas Children’s Houston Open taking place between 27-30 March at Memorial Park Golf Course.