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 his first six starts on the PGA Tour will be of the no-cut variety. “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.”
Espen Blaker, who was conducting the interview, asked, “So, we won’t get to see Viktor Hovland on the LIV tour right away?”
Hovland all but ruled it out: “No, I doubt that,” he said.
Hovland has committed to several early-season PGA Tour events, including, the Sentry in two weeks, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the WM Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational.
The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which funds LIV, are in intense negotiations to complete a deal before the Dec. 31 deadline of its framework agreement.
Hovland has contended in several majors the past two seasons, including playing in the final pairing at the 2022 British Open, 2023 Masters and 2023 PGA Championship, where he finished second. Since that close call, He won the Memorial in June, the BMW Championship as well as the season-ending Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup.
A call to Hovland’s agent, Sam MacNaughton, was not returned before publication.