2024 Memorial Tournament: Top 10 power rankings at Muirfield Village

Viktor Hovland’s funk through the first four-plus months of 2024 was puzzling.

So was him snapping out of it in the blink of an eye and nearly winning the PGA Championship. In his last start at Valhalla, a fitting venue for a Norwegian like him, he summoned his old magic to finish solo third (68-66-66-66). He was truly in contention throughout the tournament, finishing just three shots off the pace and one back of second.

“I'm surprised in the sense that -- just how far away I felt last week. But I'm not surprised in the way that I'm here because, like, I never doubted my abilities. It was just kind of my machinery was not working very well,” Hovland was transcribed by ASAP Sports after the PGA. “But as soon as I get the machine kind of somewhere on track, I can play. Like there's nothing wrong with me mentally or -- like I never doubted I couldn't play golf anymore. It's just like the technique was not good enough to compete.”

Hovland split earlier this year with short game coach Joe Mayo. Together, they had made great strides in the one weakness in Hovland’s artillery, his short game. Now, they’re back together. How much of the credit goes to Mayo is hard to determine, but those two mending fences could get Hovland back to the golf he was playing last year en route to a FedEx Cup title.

What better place is there for Hovland to now go to try to carry this newfound momentum than Muirfield Village?

Hovland is the defending Memorial Tournament champion.

He posted 71-71-69-70 at this challenging layout to chase down Denny McCarthy late on Sunday and won in a playoff.

Hovland didn’t even have his best ball striking week, checking in at 12th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (1.78). The bonus was he caught fire with the putter to rank third (1.52) in SG.

The former Oklahoma State Cowboy is 5-for-5 making the cut on property, including solo third in his debut at the 2020 Workday Charity Open.

Hovland ranks 11th on the PGA Tour this season in SG: Off-the-Tee (.591). He’s top-60 in all SG stats except for Around-the-Green.

He should be able to attack the par-5s this week. The 26-year-old is 13th in average approach proximity from 200-plus yards (46’4”).