When Viktor Hovland started testing drivers at the Truist Championship earlier this year, he was 117th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. This week in Connecticut, he led the category and he won the Travelers Championship in a playoff over Scottie Scheffler Monday morning.
What changed? He finally switched to a new driver.
From 2020 to 2024, Hovland was a top-25 driver every season courtesy of his Ping G425 LST. His comfort was the main reason it was so difficult for him to switch out of the now five-year-old club.
But in 2025, Hovland fell outside the top 80 and then cratered to outside the top-100 after the first four months of this season. That was despite previous attempts to move into Ping’s new G440 line both last year and at his first Tour start this season in Phoenix.
“I tried out the new 440 last year because it is faster,” Hovland said at the WM Phoenix Open, before putting the K in play for the first time. “The spin consistency off the face is a joke. If I hit it off the heel or the toe with a 425, the spin discrepancy is very large. Like if I hit it off the toe, I can spin it under 2000. If I hit it off the heel, I can maybe get up to 3000. Versus the 440, it’s very tight. It goes from maybe 2000 to 2600, so a huge gap.
“However, the problem is it launches a little bit higher for me. And for some reason, just with the setup that I’ve tested with, it tends to go a bit more to the right. Right now, with my golf swing, when I get stuck, my miss is already a high-right miss. If I hit this driver, it’s just getting accentuated.”
Starting at the Truist Championship and then continuing the following week at the PGA, Hovland began testing both the G440 K and G440 LST again. Ping Tour Rep Kenton Oates initially thought the more forgiving K would get the nod, but as they went on, the LST had a clear advantage in start-line, just a touch more right than the K.
Hovland also started liking the LST more when they tested it with a Fujikura Ventus TR Black+ 6-X shaft, which has a stiffer mid-section, more like the Speeder 661 TR shaft he plays in his 425. Ping has a very limited number of Speeders left for Hovland, so they only use them in backup 425 heads at this point.
“As he tightened his swing up a little bit, to me it felt like it was just coming out of the proper start-line every time,” Oates told GOLF. “TR Black Plus was a home run on paper right away because it should have dropped his spin, and it should give him a better feel.”
After getting comfortable with the new build at home, while taking three weeks off after the PGA, the new 440 LST was the only driver Hovland brought to Canada.
“That’s one way to switch,” Oates joked. “Leave your security blanket in Oklahoma and call it a day.”
This week at TPC River Highlands, Hovland was first in SG: OTT and missed just 13 fairways for the event. On both of his tee shots on the 18th hole — on Sunday, then on Monday morning in the playoff — he split the fairway, setting himself up for the clutch approach and the winning birdie putt in the playoff.
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Specs
Ping G440 LST 9.0
Actual loft: 7.4
Ping Trajectory 2.0 setting: Flat Dot
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black w/ Velocore+ 6-X
Tipping: 1″
Length: 45.75″ EOG
Swingweight: D5+
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Black/Blue 60R (+1 wrap)
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