Viktor Hovland didn’t hold back when discussing the management of the PGA Tour and responding to whether he could be the next big name headed to LIV Golf.
During a golf podcast with “Fore” in Norway, Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, said that “I doubt that” you will see him go to LIV as Jon Rahm recently did for an obscene amount of guaranteed money, but he added, “I totally understand why he left.”
“It would be a bit too silly to criticize the players for leaving. After all, you only hear one angle in the media, and there are quite a few different parts happening at the same time here,” Hovland said, speaking in his native Norwegian. The quotes were translated by Eurosport Norway. “I totally understand why he left. That’s a lot, a lot of money.”
Hovland prefaced his comments on the Tour’s management by stating, “Just to be clear: I’m not complaining about the position I’m in, and I’m very grateful for everything.”
Then came the “but … ”
“The management has not done a good job. They almost see the players as labor, and not as part of the members. After all, we are the PGA Tour. Without the players, there is nothing,” he continued. “When you then get to see what happens behind closed doors, how the management actually makes decisions, which are not in the players’ best interest, but best for themselves and what they think is best … They are not professional golfers after all. They are businessmen who say that ‘no, it should look like this and that.’ There is a great deal of arrogance behind it all.”
Viktor Hovland smiles as he walks up the 15th fairway with Rory McIlroy during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
Hovland’s name has been linked to LIV for some time. At 26 years old and with the bulk of his career in front of him, the world No. 4 and arguably the hottest player of the last several months is an obvious target for Greg Norman. He would join former Oklahoma State teammate Matt Wolff and a vast pipeline of former Cowboys that includes Charles Howell III and Talor Gooch. But Hovland also said the LIV format isn’t for him, which should be taken with a grain of salt given that Rahm essentially had said the same thing before reversing course.
“I don’t think their product is that great. I’m not such a fan of, for example, playing without a cut,” Hovland said. It should be noted that potentially three of…
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