This episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast was recorded in November, previous to Jon Rahm signing with LIV Golf. For extra on Rahm’s departure for LIV, click on right here.
Jon Rahm has a prediction, however no, it shouldn’t shock you. Or anybody who has watched golf over the previous 12 months, for that matter.
Rahm was the visitor on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast, and one of many questions he was requested was which participant, who has not already occupied the spot, would be the subsequent World No. 1?
He paused for a second, considering. Then he got here up with a solution: his Ryder Cup teammate.
“Viktor Hovland,” Rahm stated. “Viktor ought to be, in my thoughts, the one which’s forward. There’s a lot of gamers with potential to do it, however based mostly on his development the previous few years I believe he’d be the clear one.
“Anybody seeing this , and as a fan of Viktor, they would understand.”
It’s arduous to argue with Rahm.
After a winless 2022 season on the PGA Tour (he gained the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial occasion), Hovland gained 3 times in 2023, they usually have been all huge ones — the Memorial, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. He’s now ranked 4th on the earth, behind solely Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Rahm. (For what it’s price, each participant ranked 4th to 14th within the present OWGR has but to get to No. 1, a group that consists of Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Collin Morikawa.)
Hovland’s late-season surge wasn’t restricted to the States, both. He was essential in Europe’s 16.5-11.5 Ryder Cup win, ending with a 3–1–1 document and accumulating 3.5 factors. Hovland even teamed with Ryder Cup rookie Ludvig Aberg for an historic 9-and-7 thumping of Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler in Saturday foursomes.
Hovland additionally carried out higher than ever within the majors in 2023. He had two top-10 finishes and nothing worse than T13. He’s had three high 10s in his final 5 main begins general after he did not notch one in his first 9 main begins as a professional.
A key distinction has been Hovland’s work across the greens. While he was eighth in Strokes Gained and fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-green final season, he was 88th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green. That quantity doesn’t pop off the display screen, nevertheless it’s a main enchancment from the earlier 12 months, wherein he ranked 191st out of 193. He made a huge leap in scrambling, too, enhancing from 99th in 2022 to forty eighth in 2023.
“Throughout the year I feel like obviously short game has improved massively, course management has been a big deal, I’m not short-siding myself as much as I used to, and just handling adversity a lot better because I believe in my game and if I hit one bad shot or make one mistake it’s not the end of the world,” Hovland stated after he gained the Tour Championship in August. “I maintain urgent on, I maintain making birdies, and abruptly we’re again in it once more. Before, it felt like, man, I’ve to not surrender any pictures to shoot a good spherical of golf. Whereas now that’s not true anymore. I can hit one unhealthy and I can rise up and down and transfer on and birdie the following three after which abruptly we’re proper there.
“So I would say those three things have been just a huge improvement this year.”
For extra from Rahm, together with his ideas on Europe’s Ryder Cup win, a key difference-maker within the group room and extra, try the video beneath.
Source link
