The year 2024 has been a tumultuous one for Viktor Hovland, and there has been plenty of adversity in the last week.
He injured his right pinky toe, posting a picture on Instagram documenting the injury. That is something that could keep him out of this week’s PGA Tour season-opening event, The Sentry at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Hawaii, although he is on the list of 60 golfers commmitted to the tournament.
However, perhaps the bigger news is Hovland has again parted ways with swing coach Joe Mayo, the second time he has done so this year. Norsk Golf reported the recent split on Monday.
In May, Hovland reunited with Mayo ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky. Hovland, the 2023 FedEx Cup champion, parted ways with Mayo at the start of 2024 and worked with Grant Waite and Dana Dahlquist. Hovland explained these moves in March as searching for that perfectly flushed iron shot he cherishes.
But, heading into a new season, Hovland has decided to go separate ways from Mayo again.
“We disagreed a bit about the way forward, what is best for me,” Hovland told Norsk Golf. “I feel that I have learned so much now and have so much competence that I don’t need anyone to hold my hand anymore. It’s always good to have someone to watch what I’m doing, check out the steps I’m taking. So I send some videos to another coach, but he’s more like a consultant. I am the one in charge of my own turn.”
Hovland hasn’t played since the Tour Championship, when he tied for 12th. He took some time off, nursing a right pinky finger injury, a fatigue fracture the result of overusing an interlocking grip, Hovland told Norsk Golf. Now he’s dealing with the toe, which forced him to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night after injuring it with his status for The Sentry in limbo. He said he is dealing with less pain now than after the initial injury, but he hasn’t truly tested its durability yet. The injury is expected to take 4 to 6 weeks to heal.
Hovland played only 16 times in 2024 on the PGA Tour, missing the cut in three of the four majors, though he did finished third at the PGA Championship. He played better down the stretch, but now, he’s relying on himself more in 2025.
“I like that coaching is practical, that you recreate challenges you face on the pitch,” Hovland told Norse Golf. “But my experience is that many who instruct in that way do not understand the biomechanics behind it. And on the other side, you have trainers who know a lot about biomechanics, but who become too abstract and theoretical in training.
“What I want is to find a combination of these two. And then I have to go down some rabbit holes to find my way. It is a process that is not easy, but I am learning a lot. And it is my own responsibility to take in the correct information.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Viktor Hovland, swing coach Joe Mayo split again before 2025 season
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