How did a chubby, 5-foot-6 kid with an untucked shirt from Oslo, Norway impress the coach of one of the most celebrated college golf programs in the United States? “Viktor was a little soft and had a different-looking swing, but that swing repeated, and I loved how he competed,” says Oklahoma State head men’s golf coach, Alan Bratton.

A decade on and more chiseled, the 2023 Memorial Tournament champion still possesses the repeatable, homegrown swing he developed as a kid through hundreds of hours of web surfing and beating balls at an indoor golf center. In February 2021, Hovland was Golf Digest’s cover star, and we dived into the Norwegian’s background to uncover how he become one of the world’s best ball-strikers.

Senior Writer Matthew Rudy’s feature gives us plenty of nuggets on the affable 25-year-old that help explain how a kid from Oslo closed out his fourth PGA Tour win at Jack’s Place.