There are details that define people. Viktor Hovland has had one this week that confirms what almost all fans can see at a glance. He’s a very good guy. The Norwegian had no problem sharing with Ángel Ayora what he believes are the keys to playing well in the Puerto Rico Open. Quite a luxury considering that Hovland won the tournament in 2020, in fact it was his first victory on the PGA Tour.
These tips from Hovland, of course, have their own backstory. How did Ayora get to the current champion of the FedEx Cup? We’ll tell you. It all starts with Juan Ochoa, coach and caddie of Ángel. He met Viktor several years ago, when the Norwegian golf federation team held their winter training sessions on the then called Alcaidesa Links and now known as La Hacienda. Ochoa was a teacher there and established some contacts. Specifically, he maintains a very close relationship with Kristoffer Reitan, world amateur champion with Norway in 2015, first Norwegian to play a US Open and player between the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour.
Upon arriving in Puerto Rico, Ochoa decided to write to Hovland to ask for his expert advice to play at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Río Grande, the same venue where he achieved victory four years ago. Hovland, who is already in Bay Hill to compete in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, had no hesitation in responding almost immediately.
“You have to play a ball that responds well to the wind and you have to try to control the speed of the greens as best as possible,” Viktor has assured. These are his two keys for this week.
Ochoa clarifies these tips. “He’s absolutely right and it makes perfect sense. It’s always very windy here, so you have to put a low, deep tee and try to find the fairway. As for the greens, they’re not very big, but they are very undulating and there’s a big difference between putting against the grain and with the grain because of the type of grass they have (paspalum). They’re a bit slower than usual on the PGA Tour, but it’s logical, because of the wind and the type of grass, however, if you have a putt with the grain and the wind in favour, it shoots off… So you have to work on it well in the previous days,” he highlights.
We’ll see what Ayora can do in his debut on the PGA Tour, where he will play this week with an invitation. So far, this season he has played two tournaments on the DP World Tour and three on the Challenge, has made four cuts and has been around the top 10 every week.
