This episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast was recorded in November, before Jon Rahm signed with LIV Golf. More information about Rahm’s departure to LIV.
Jon Rahm has a prediction, but no, it shouldn’t surprise you. Or anyone who has watched golf in the last year.
Rahm was a guest on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast and one of the questions he was asked was which player who wasn’t there will be the next world number one? He stopped for a moment and thought.
Then he came up with the answer: his Ryder Cup teammates. “Viktor Hovland,” Rahm said. “I think Viktor should be that forward.
A lot of players have the potential to do that, but based on his progress over the last few years, I think he would be a clear player. “Anyone who sees this and Viktor as a fan will understand.” It’s hard to argue with Rahm.
After an undefeated 2022 season on the PGA Tour (he won the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event), Hovland won three times in 2023, and they were all big — the Memorial, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.
He is now ranked 4th in the world, behind only Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Rahm. (Every player ranked 4th-14th in the current OWGR is not already ranked 1st, a group that includes Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Collin Morikawa.)
Hovland’s late-season surge wasn’t limited to states, either. He played a major role in Europe’s 16.5-11.5 Ryder Cup victory, posting a 3-1-1 record and 3.5 points.
Hovland even teamed up with Ryder Cup rookie Ludvig Aberg in a historic 9-7 win over Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler in Saturday’s foursome. In 2023, Hovland was also better than ever in a major.
He had two top ten finishes and no worse than T13. He has three top-10s in his last five major starts, failed to get one in his first nine major starts as a pro.
The main difference was Hovland’s work around the greens. Although he was 8th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 5th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green last season, he was 88th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green. That number doesn’t jump off the screen, but it’s a significant improvement over last year, when he finished 191st out of 193.
He also made a big jump in climbing, going from 99th in 2022 to 48th in 2023. “Throughout the year I feel like the short game has definitely improved a lot, lane control has been a big thing, I’m not as short as I used to be and I just deal with adversity a lot better because I believe in my game.
And if I hit bad shot or make one mistake, it’s not the end of the world,” Hovland said after winning the Tour Championship in August. “I keep pushing, making birdies, and all of a sudden we’re back in it. I used to feel that I didn’t have to miss a single shot to get a good golf shot.
Although now that is no longer true. I can hit one bad one and get up and down and go on and on for the next three and then suddenly we’re there. “So I would say those three things were a huge improvement this year.”
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