Viktor Hovland aims for second Desert Classic triumph

Dubai: Viktor Hovland was in good spirits as he looks to start his 2026 season with a win at Desert Classic.

Four years ago, Hovland won the competition as he edged out Richard Bland in a sudden-death playoff at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai to claim the title.

The 28-year-old reflected on his previous win and is excited for the tournaments 37^th edition.

“It’s good to be back,” said Hovland. “This tournament just seems to get bigger and bigger. I mean, the stands just keep growing, and it's a cool event, cool atmosphere.”

“I just finished playing the Pro-Am and just coming back and remembering the finish, particularly, that I had here in 2022, birdieing 16, eagle 17, and then birdieing 18, as well, to get into a playoff. That was really cool.”

“So good memories here.”

The Majlis Course is the flagship 18‑hole championship course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai. With seven lakes and numerous ponds strategically places around the greens and fairways, many holes require precision off the tee.

Despite this, Hovland has had good success in past years and feels it suits his game well.

“You have to drive it really well off the tee,” explained the former trophy holder. “It's not the longest course, but you have a few par 4s that can give you some long irons into the greens, and some of the par 5s. It's beneficial to have some length off the tee.”

“But as long as you keep it in the fairways and you're a good iron play, you can shoot a nice score. That's what I've done here in the past. So hopefully I can do some of that this week.”

Hovland had an up and down 2025 season as he fought to overcome some mid-season struggles. In March he won the Valspar Championship, his first PGA Tour title since the 2023 Tour Championship.

Later in the season he played a key role for Europe in the Ryder Cup before injury forced him to withdraw from the competition.

“I saw some nice consistent results at the end of last year, but it was still really stressful to play golf,” he said.”

“I just kind of managed my game really well, and I started chipping and putting a little bit better. Because at the start of the year, I basically lived on range. So, I completely neglected my short game, and that really suffered the results.”

“But towards the back end of the year, I started putting and chipping it a little bit better, so I kind of massaged some of my ball-striking and was able to pick up some Top 10s and have a bit more consistency.”