Viktor Hovland has taken a major swipe at the PGA Tour, declaring it had done “such a bad job” at managing golf’s civil war with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
LIV landed yet another blow on the PGA Tour when it was recently confirmed Jon Rahm, the winner of the 2023 Masters, would move over in a bombshell move worth almost A$1bn.
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Hovland, who played alongside Rahm for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup earlier this year, did not begrudge the Spaniard for taking the massive payday.
However, the Norwegian believes the PGA Tour’s incompetence does not give it much of a leg to stand on when it comes to convincing players to avoid LIV’s riches.
“I totally understand why [Rahm] left,” Hovland told Discovery’s FORE! podcast.
“That’s a lot, a lot of money.
“And at least when the management of the PGA Tour has done such a bad job.
“Just to be clear: I’m not complaining about the position I’m in, and I’m very grateful for everything.
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“But the management has not done a good job. They almost see the players as labour, and not as part of the members. After all, we are the PGA Tour. Without the players, there is nothing.”
Despite Hovland’s gripes with the PGA Tour, he confirmed on the same podcast he had no immediate plans to join LIV.
“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,” Hovland said.
With Rahm’s big-money switch, pressure continues to mount on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan as negotiations for a merger with LIV nears the December 31 deadline.
Shockwaves were sent across the sporting world in June when it was revealed the PGA Tour reached a “framework agreement” with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who oversee and bankroll LIV Golf.
But no merger has been officially sealed as of yet as US Congress aired its concerns about the PGA Tour aligning with a polarising foreign entity.