Who Is Viktor Hovland's Coach?

Denny Lucas currently coaches the young Norwegian but who exactly is he?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

We take a look at who currently coaches the young Norwegian star.

Who Is Viktor Hovland's Coach?

Viktor Hovland already has a couple of PGA Tour victories to his name and currently sees himself inside the world's top-20 in the golf rankings despite being at what should be the very start of his career.

But who currently coaches the youngster? Let's take a look below.

Who Is Viktor Hovland's Coach?

Hovland coach situation appears to have changed recently. We are unsure if they still are working together but one coach Hovland had been getting advice from was Denny Lucas, a former professional player.

Related: 13 Things You Didn’t Know About Viktor Hovland

Lucas playing at the New Zealand Open in 2006 (Getty Images)

On Lucas' website it says; "I started playing golf at the age of 7 and went on to represent England at both the Boys and Mens levels as an amateur. I turned pro at age 19 and played tournaments for 18 years on the European Tour, Challenge Tour, Asian Tour, Australasian Tour, South African (Sunshine) Tour, South American Tour and one Web.com Tour event."

When he started working with Hovland is unclear but what cannot be denied is the impact Lucas has had on Hovland's game. Speaking after his 2018 U.S. Amateur victory Hovland said;

"So Thanksgiving break I went to Jupiter and saw my coach, Denny Lucas, and we worked on just trying to get a little shallower angle of attack and get the loft up, and I was hitting really high, or higher for me. For the life of me I couldn't hit a 3-wood off the deck. It was disgusting to look at.

"But after some work, I managed to kind of hit those high, piercing 3-woods and land them softly on greens. Yeah, that just gave me a lot of confidence with all the other clubs."

One of his most athletic swings is the famous 'pause' swing in which Hovland pauses at the top of his backswing then goes further with it before unleashing the downswing. Lucas says Hovland occasionally goes too far at the top but the double pump action works as a great drill to rectify that.

Related: Viktor Hovland What's In The Bag?

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However Hovland appears to have been working with Jeff Smith for a few months now. In fact he credits months of hard work with Smith as the main factor as to why his chipping has improved so much, because he totally revamped his action to eliminate the leading edge on chips and use more bounce..

Speaking to Ryan Lavner Hovland said; “I wasn’t doing that before – it was all leading edge, which I could get away with in overseed or ryegrass, but out here you’re exposed immediately as soon as you get into any type of Bermuda into the grain,” Hovland said. “You have to catch it perfectly. Still got some work to do, but I’m hitting chips that I wouldn’t have been able to do before.”

 

Related: Who Is Viktor Hovland's Caddie?

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In terms of other coaches, Hovland has worked with Pete Cowen on his short game in the past whilst his performance coach is someone called Kim Røtnes-Jensen.

Hovland also attended Oklahoma State University and would have played under head-coach Alan Bratton whilst there.

Sam Tremlett
E-commerce Editor

A golfer for most of his life, Sam is a Senior Staff Writer for Golf Monthly. 

Working with golf gear and equipment over the last six years, Sam has quickly built outstanding knowledge and expertise on golf products ranging from drivers, to balls, to shoes. 

He combines this knowledge with a passion for helping golfers get the best gear for them, and as such Sam manages a team of writers that look to deliver the most accurate and informative reviews and buying advice. This is so the reader can find exactly what they are looking for.


Sam now spends most of his time testing and looking after golf gear content for the website, whilst he is also responsible for all content related to golf apparel. 

He also oversees all Tour player content as well so if you need to know what clubs Tiger or Rory has in play, Sam is the person to ask. 

Unfortunately, Sam is not a member of any club at the moment but regularly gets out on the golf course to keep up the facade of having a handicap of five. 


Sam's What's In The Bag: 

Driver: Titleist TS3 (9 degrees) 

Fairway Wood: Callaway Paradym (15 degrees), Nike Covert Tour 2.0 (19 degrees) 

Irons (4-PW): Titleist AP2 

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 54˚, 58˚ 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Shoes: G/FORE Gallivanter/Nike Air Zoom Infinity NEXT%/Cuater The Ringer