Viktor Hovland’s problems get even worse after embarrassing match play performance against amateur golfer
· Yahoo Sports
Viktor Hovland’s 2026 season so far has been disastrous.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
The seven-time PGA Tour winner looked set to be golf’s next big thing after winning four times in 2023, but he has just one win since then, and looks like a shell of himself this year.
Hovland missed the cut at the PGA Championship and has only one top 10 on the PGA Tour this year. He looks like a tortured soul as he tries to rediscover his game on the range, and has made changes to his coaching team and clubs.
He mysteriously withdrew from the Memorial Tournament this week, leaving the golf world to speculate on the reason why. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, he was just beaten comfortably by an amateur golfer on YouTube.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesViktor Hovland beaten in matchplay by amateur Preston Stout
Hovland recently participated in the Golf Channel’s Battle of the Cowboys on YouTube, a match-play event between the 2018 Oklahoma State University NCAA champions, featuring Hovland, and the 2025 OSU NCAA champions, featuring Stout.
The Norwegian was the biggest name at the event, which featured five current PGA Tour players, but he endured an embarrassing result against a current college athlete. The match didn’t even make it to the 16th hole, as Stout beat him 4&3.
Stout is a very good amateur player, but in no one’s mind is he the best out there. He’s the world number three behind Jackson Koivun, who’s dubbed as golf’s next major talent, and Benjamin James.
He competed at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last week and finished 138th in the field, and finished 18th at the NCAA Marana Regional.
This isn’t the calibre of player you’d expect Hovland to lose to, and lose to comfortably. It’s yet another sign that something just isn’t right with the former world number three.