The world’s No. 4 golfer has no plans to jump ship to LIV Golf, but he had some strong words for the PGA Tour’s leadership after an eventful 2023.
Viktor Hovland squashed any idea that he wanted to join the rebel golf league and take what would likely amount to a massive payday, following in the footsteps of Jon Rahm who made the jump earlier this month.
During an appearance on the Eurosport Norge podcast “Fore,” Hovland explained that he understood why Rahm would take the money from LIV Golf, but the league’s format did not interest him.
“I don’t think their product is that great. I’m not such a fan of, for example, playing without a cut,” Hovland said, according to Golfweek. “You need the competition with 150 players and a cut. If you don’t play well enough, you’re out. There is something about it that makes your game a little sharper. If I had gone to LIV, I don’t think I would have become a better golfer. And then it is, in a way, end of discussion.”
While Hovland doesn’t have any current plans to leave the PGA Tour, it didn’t stop him from laying into the leadership after what has been a wild year for the sport.
After being at war with LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund – which funds LIV – announced a framework agreement in June, which shocked just about everyone.
The lack of transparency around the decision angered many PGA Tour players and Hovland seemed to suggest that the whole thing had opened his eyes to the way the leadership views the players.
“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 said. “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.”
There is a deadline of Dec. 31 in order for the Tour and PIF to finalize the deal, but it can be extended if needed.
Hovland has an eventful 2023 himself having won the FedEx Cup title in August.
He also won the Memorial, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.
Additionally, he finished second at this year’s Masters and PGA Championship.
Hovland has already committed to playing in several PGA Tour events in 2024 including the Sentry, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the WM Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational.