This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
Viktor Hovland had a brutal short game. Everybody knew it, including him. The stats clearly said so, as he ranked 191st in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green last season.
For a player among the very best ball strikers in the world, that was the difference between being great and elite.
It's safe to say that Hovland is now elite.
The 25-year-old registered the biggest victory of his young career Sunday, defeating a gallant Denny McCarthy on the first playoff hole to capture The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
This was actually Hovland's fourth win, but two Mayakobas and one Puerto Rico don't add up to what he accomplished this past week. This was a big boy win in a big boy field on a big boy course.
Hovland ended last year ranked 10th in the world, and that is remarkable given how bad his short game was. His putting wasn't much better. He's clearly has worked on both extensively. For the record, he's now ranked 135th in SG: Around-the-Green and 70th in SG: Putting. But that doesn't tell the story; it's been so much better of late.
Hovland finished third at THE PLAYERS in March, then seventh at the Masters, then second at the PGA -- which all came following a T4 at last year's Open Championship. You simply cannot do that without quality wedge play and a hot putter.
As he told reporters after the round, "… even if I'm out of position, I know that I have a short game, so when I hit bad shots it doesn't bother me as much. Whereas before it was like, okay, I just wasted a shot that I couldn't afford to waste. Yeah, that just kind of changes the mindset a little bit."
A little bit. Or a lot.
Hovland ranked 31st in SG: Around-the-Green in the elite field at the Memorial. He ranked third in the field in putting, sinking a 30-footer on No. 17 -- the only birdie of the day on that hole -- then a 7-footer for par in the playoff. There is no weakness left in his game.
Hovland has moved up to No. 5 in the world, and he will be on the short list of contenders for the U.S. Open in two weeks.
That's what happens when you finish top-7 in three straight majors.
That's what happens when you turn your one big negative into a positive.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Denny McCarthy
McCarthy has grown as a player by leaps and bounds this season, turning himself from just a great putter into a far more well-round player. It carried him to brink of his first title. His only two bogeys of the day came on 18 -- the last hole of regulation, then the playoff. The loss will sting for a while, but at the end of the day he knows he's top-50 in the world rankings, at No. 35, for a reason.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler finished solo third, a shot out of the playoff, and his stats are not to be believed. He gained nearly 21 shots on the field tee-to-green but lost 8.5 on the green. Those numbers are correct. He shot 67 on a day the final-round scoring average was just a shade under 75. Like at the PGA, then the Charles Schwab, if Scheffler putted only poorly instead of horribly, he'd have won all three tournaments. As it is, he hasn't finished outside the top 12 in 16 straight tournaments.
Si Woo Kim
Kim opened the year with a win at the Sony and then strung together a bunch of top-25s before leveling off. Now he's rising again. Three weeks after finishing as runner-up at the Byron Nelson, Kim finished solo fourth, moving to 30th in the world rankings, just shy of his career high of 28th. Yes, he had a share of the lead entering Sunday, but this was still a very good week. His U.S. Open record leaves a lot to be desired, so we'll see in two weeks whether Kim can continue to shine.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth wound up with about the quietest T5 you'll ever see: 69-72-72-71. He continues a recent trend of exceptional play off the tee -- ranking sixth in the field, hitting it pretty far and very straight -- but not being able to fully capitalize on approach, where he ranked 20th. And his putting was so-so. Still, Spieth has to feel pretty good about himself heading into the U.S. Open.
Andrew Putnam
This was an exceptional week for Putnam, who hasn't had, well, almost any of those so far in 2023. He tied for fifth and ranked top-25 in every strokes gained stat. That's not easy to do for such a short hitter. Putnam finished top-5 at the Sony way back in January and didn't have another stroke-play top-20 until now. His week was even more exceptional: He qualified for the Open Championship, as did Adam Schenk and Lee Hodges.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy carried a share of the 54-hole into Sunday and simply collapsed with seven bogies in a 3-over 75 to win up tied for seventh. In fairness, 75 was basically the final-round scoring average, but this was still a stunner. He ranked 62nd in the field in putting on Sunday out of 66 who made the cut. McIlroy now heads to the Canadian Open where he will try to three-peat, but it also means the U.S. Open will be his third tournament in a row.
Adam Schenk
After Schenk finished runner-up at the Valspar, he missed four of his next five cuts. After he finished runner-up at the Charles Schwab last week, he tied for seventh this week. That is great sign for a player learning how to deal with heartbreak and adversity. Schenk is now up to a career-best 53rd in the world rankings.
Rickie Fowler
Early on Sunday, Fowler had birdied three of his first eight holes to jump within one shot of the lead. A Fowler victory would've been the biggest golf story of the year. However … he missed a four-footer for birdie on 11, and all the air went out of his sails. Fowler bogeyed four of his final seven holes, including the last three, and wound up tied for ninth. If not for the way it happened, a top-10 in this field in this tournament would've been an enormous lift. Still, Fowler continues to climb the rankings and is now up to 42nd in the world.
David Lipsky
The 34-year-old Los Angeles native began the day with a share of the lead. But the moment proved too big, as Lipsky shot a 77 to fall into a tie for 12th. It followed a T16 at Colonial and was his second-best showing in a PGA Tour event, after tying for fourth at the Sony in January. But it's unlikely Lipsky will be able to view the positives right now. We, however, shouldn't lose sight of them.
Luke List
It has not been a good year for List, who had one top-20 all year -- in a 39-man field at the Tournament of Champions. He finished 16th at the Memorial. Great, yes. But let's see what he does next time out.
Jon Rahm
Rahm played with Scheffler on Sunday and lost their head-to-head duel by a whopping seven strokes. In fairness, it was more Scheffler good than Rahm bad.
Hideki Matsuyama
Early on Saturday, Matsuyama got it to 9-under and opened a three-stroke lead. He then shot 75-76 on the weekend and fell into a tie for 16th. Remember, the winning score was 7-under.
Brandt Snedeker
The 42-year-old Snedeker made his first start since sternum surgery cost him nearly nine months -- and he made the cut with a tie for 41st.
Stewart Cink
A week after finishing third in his Champions Tour debut, Cink returned to the PGA Tour and made the cut. He tied for 60th, but this was still a big deal.
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar shot 79 on Thursday but battled back to make the cut with a 67. Then he shot 69 on Saturday and was cooking. But then, oy, he shot 84 on Sunday. Somehow, three guys still finished worse than him.
Sam Bennett
The reigning U.S. Amateur champion, who made the cut at the Masters and will be in the U.S. Open, made the cut and finished solo 63rd. Bennett will also be in the Canadian Open this week.
Collin Morikawa
Morikawa was only two shots off the lead entering Sunday, but he withdrew because of back spasms suffered in his pre-round warmup. Obviously a concern with a major in two weeks.
MISSED CUTS
The notable who didn't reach the weekend: defending champion Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, Jason Day, Justin Thomas. Aldrich Potgieter, Corey Conners, Thriston Lawrence, Tom Kim, Kurt Kitayama and Cameron Young. Potgieter is an 18-year-old South African who won the 2022 British Amateur and will be in the U.S. Open. Lawrence also will be in the field at Los Angeles Country Club in two weeks.
