Viktor Hovland admitted he was still unhappy with his swing despite a stunning 65 propelling himself into contention at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The Norwegian is currently in a lengthy evolution of a swing change, but he appeared to have found his groove at the Emirates Golf Club when he matched the lowest round of the week with a flawless seven under.
Hovland, who is making his first start of 2026, drained birdie putts at he second and fifth before picking up shots on three of his first four holes on the back nine.
He had the honour of holing the 40,000th birdie at this event since 1999 with his three at the penultimate hole and closed with his seventh birdie of the day.
An historic birdie from Viktor Hovland as he makes the 40,000th birdie at @DubaiDCGolf since 1999 👏#HeroDubaiDesertClassic | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/QUcgesPv5I
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 24, 2026
However, the World Number 14 revealed he remained uncomfortable on the tee, despite sitting in a share of third at nine under.
"I know I played a wonderful round of golf today," Hovland said. "Certainly no complaints about a bogey-free 65 out here. This place is no joke.
"Still doesn't feel like I can stand on the tee and kind of swing for the fences, and swing loosely. It's all very contrived and manufactured, and it happened to go straight today. If I get off the tee and in a decent position, I can really do some damage.
"But I really would like to be able to stand on the tee box and swing hard and know that the ball is going to go fairly straight."
Hovland recalled memories of his 2022 victory at Majlis course when he started the final round six shots adrift before finishing birdie-eagle-birdie to force a play-off with Richard Bland, which he won at the first extra hole.
"I think the most important thing with that year is that it's not over until it's over," he added.
"Because this golf course, if you're a little bit off, you can easily shoot two, three, four over, and if you get it going, you can shoot six, seven, eight under par.
"So there's massive swings out here, just remembering about that year. It's not over, so hopefully we get a nice round tomorrow."
