ORLANDO, Fla. — Viktor Hovland is impossibly upbeat. He leads the PGA Tour in positivity. It takes a lot to wipe the perpetual smile off of his face.
Bay Hill did that a year ago.
Golf, as most of us masochists who play the game are acutely aware, is a psychological mind game.
And Hovland, the 24-year-old from Norway, will face some demons this weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he leads the tournament through 36 holes after shooting a 6-under 66 in the second round Friday (the lowest round of the day by two shots).
A short memory will be as critical for Hovland’s success as it is for an NFL defensive back who recently gave up a game-winning touchdown.
A year ago, Hovland was basking in a terrific start to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting 69-68 to stand at 5-under through 36 holes.
Then the weekend happened.
Hovland lost all of his Thursday-Friday mojo with a nightmarish Saturday and Sunday, during which he shot 77-78 to free-fall his way to a stunning tie for 49th finish.
“I got kicked in the teeth,” Hovland recalled after his round Friday.
Well, here he is again.
Hovland entered the weekend at 9-under with a two-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Talor Gooch.
Now what?
Will he continue his strong play or will last year’s weekend meltdown weigh heavy on his mind this time?
The mental struggle in this game is real — regardless of how good you are.
“I kind of try to forget the weekend here last year,’’ Hovland said. “I played really well the first [two] days, very similar to kind of how I played so far this year. The course just gets harder and harder every single day, and it started blowing.
“A few too many bad swings and I ended up in bad spots and just didn’t really take my medicine. I kind of compounded the errors instead of playing smart and just taking the bogey when you’re out of position.”
Hovland considers that a valuable experience.
“It hurt me a little bit,” he said. “But at the same time, I felt like I learned a lot.”
Hopefully for Hovland — as he embarks on the weekend with later tee times, greens more baked-out and crispy from the searing Florida sun and elevated pressure — he will be able to draw from his recent experience. That has included three wins and two top-5 finishes in his last seven starts entering this week.
Hopefully for Hovland, he will be able to perform a rinse-and-repeat drill with his putting, which was hotter than the afternoon sun on Friday. For the round, Hovland finished with a career-best 4.85 strokes gained putting, meaning he was almost five shots better than the rest of the field on the greens. He needed only 23 putts in the round.
“I didn’t know it was that few,’’ he said afterward. “I knew I putted well, but I didn’t know it was 23. It felt like I putted good [Thursday]. My speed was maybe a little bit off, and I still feel like I can improve on that a little bit even after [Friday].
“I just really saw the lines really well and able to start it online. Sometimes, when you see a couple go in early, it’s easy to keep that feel going throughout the day.’’
Hovland, who started his round on the back nine, birdied Nos. 10 (with an 18-foor putt) and 12, bogeyed 13 and then closed out the side with birdies on 15, 16 and 17.
When Hovland was reminded that the course gets more difficult on the weekend, he didn’t flinch. He’s one of the best ball strikers in the game already and knows if he keeps striking it the way he did the first two days, he’ll have a chance on Sunday.
“If it’s hard, ball strikers get an advantage,’’ he said. “But if it’s too hard, it just becomes a scrambling competition. We’ll see how hard it ends up getting.’’
Hovland knows what he’ll face this weekend. We’ll see what he learned from a year ago.
McIlroy was asked after his afternoon round, “What if I told you Viktor only had 23 putts today?’’
His response: “See how he does tomorrow.’’
Let the mind games begin.