Player Profile: Victor Hovland 
Victor Hovland reminds me of the guy who laughs at every joke at the party. Nothing wrong with that exactly, but it may strike some as mildly aggravating, and I wouldn’t disagree. Plus, he sort of looks like the guy from American Pie. You know, the one that sticks his driver in the Granny Smiths. Now, I’m not saying Victor has ever put his putting stroke to work on hot baked desserts before, but I am saying he’s probably thought of doing it at least once.
I know he’s not American even though he looks like the quintessential American college student. I just assume he’s from Holland because his last name reminds me of Holland, but he could be from any of the low countries to be honest.
His game is nice: drives it straight, hit’s his irons solid, putt’s decently, but if you bet on him, he will probably lose you money…until he starts winning, at least. Your guess is as good as mine as to when that will be, however, even though Jim Nance and Sir Faldo keep telling me “this may just be his week.” It never is.
He seems to be a nice chap. He’s not big or strong or drive it 350 yards or look or sound like a professional athlete, so there’s that. Actually, I don’t think I have heard him speak. Mostly in interviews, he smiles and makes you like him even though he didn’t win…again. That makes him slightly more entertaining than Hideki Matsuyama, who wins but doesn’t smile. Pick your poison.
I do have confidence that he will win eventually on tour, even though I have no idea when that eventuality will be. I am also confident that soon I will find out what country he is from and what his voice sounds like.
In A Bag of Clubs with a driver being the hardest to hit and therefore rank number 1, all the way to the easiest, the Gap Wedge, I would rank him right now as a good solid, 7 Iron.