"I shouldn't have said that" Viktor Hovland makes shock (!) admission at US PGA

Viktor Hovland surged into contention for his maiden major title on day three at Valhalla and then confessed he very nearly withdrew from the US PGA Championship at the start of the week. 

Hovland, 26, carded a second straight 66 to move to 13-under par with 18 holes to play in Louisville. 

The European Ryder Cup hero now finds himself just two shots off the pace currently set by Xander Schauffele, who is also going in search of his first major title, and two-time major champion Collin Morikawa. 

Despite landing his first-ever FedEx Cup title last season, Hovland has failed to pick up a single top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in 2024. 

In fact Hovland's best finish this season is a T19, which came at Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational in February. 

But the World No.7's game has dramatically turned around in the season's second major of the season at Valhalla this week following an opening 68 followed by a pair of 66s. 

Hovland now finds himself in T4 and in contention for a seventh title on the PGA Tour and a first major win. 

News emerged at the start of this week that Hovland has returned to his former golf coach, Joe Mayo, who the Norwegian decided to sack at the start of the year. 

As a result of his recent lacklustre performances, Hovland made a shock confession after his third round of the PGA Championship that he came extremely close to withdrawing from the tournament. 

Scroll below for Hovland's comments...

Hovland told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio's Jason Sobel: 

"I was almost considering pulling out of this event because I wasn't playing good at all. I just overall thought things didn't feel very good, and when they don't feel good, it's like what's the point of playing? I'd rather just go and work on it, but we're here now."

He added: 

"Damnit, I shouldn't have said that. When you are playing bad, thoughts are racing, that's just what you're thinking. Obviously didn't make the decision, obviously decided to come here and play instead. I think just in the moment when you're playing bad, you just want to go home, you know."

WATCH HOVLAND'S INTERVIEW HERE

More GolfMagic articles from the 2024 US PGA Championship:

• US PGA Championship 2024: LIV Golf leaderboard
• Tiger Woods gives Scottie Scheffler arrest verdict
• Jon Rahm sums up indifferent PGA Championship
• Cop to Scottie Scheffler: "So, you want the full experience?"

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