After quiet winter, Viktor Hovland returns to tour at raucous WM Phoenix Open

Viktor Hovland enjoyed an extended holiday season at home in Norway with family and friends.

Now, he's ready to go from the serenity to his first PGA Tour start of the season on Thursday at the notoriously rocking WM Phoenix Open, where he said he's ready to "embrace the chaos."

"Every season kind of lives its own life, and it's fun to start a new year and see what it's going to lead to. Excited to get started here," he said Tuesday at TPC Scottsdale. "This is an event that is very noisy and there is a lot going on, so definitely a lot of excitement showing up this week."

Hovland, 28, decided to skip the Hawaii and Southern California stretch of the tour, in part because he hadn't played much. The World No. 16 got back into the tournament swing two weeks ago at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, where he finished 5-under par and T14.

"So kind of started in Dubai and getting couple weeks there to hone in on my game a little bit and then come over here. I think it was just a perfect fit," he said.

His expectations aren't all that high. He has played in Scottsdale three times. He missed the cut in 2020 and 2022, and he finished T42 in 2023.

Still, he wants to be a part of the atmosphere again.

"Ryder Cup is a big deal and gets pretty rowdy, but this is the tournament outside of the Ryder Cup that just feels like compete chaos, and I think it's a cool environment to play in and kind of just embrace the chaos a little bit."

"It's just cool to be in that environment sometimes," he added. "I really like the golf course as well, and being in perfect conditions, you know, it's just kind of a nice place to start the year off and see where your game is at."

Hovland has seven career victories and won in 2025 at the Valspar Championship. He finished in the top 25 nine times in 18 events. He also was part of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team.

Also returning to the Phoenix Open this week is Brooks Koepka, who last played in the event in 2022 before leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. He's won twice in Scottsdale, in 2015 and 2021.

Hovland tried to stay neutral when answering questions about the return of Koepka, who will be followed by ex-LIV Golf member Patrick Reed on a full-time basis in 2027.

"I enjoy playing against those guys," Hovland said. "I think obviously Patrick Reed being a major champion and great player, and Brooks a five-time major champion, that's a great addition to the PGA Tour. They're great players. and I want to compete against the greatest players out there. I think it just makes the products, the fields better."

He acknowledged, however, that the PGA Tour is "in a tricky position now."

"You've said one thing for a long time and now we're changing things. What precedent are you setting then to the future players now if I can go to a rival tour, get paid, and now seemingly come back again without the biggest consequences?

"I don't really have an opinion on that to be honest. That's something the tour has to figure out. I'm sure there are a lot of people not going to be super happy about that, but at the end of the day I just want to compete against the best players in the world.

"I'm in a place where I have to figure stuff out in my own game, and that's basically where I'm focusing on. I don't really want to focus on what the tour should be doing right now."

--Field Level Media