Viktor Hovland might have put the LIV Golf rumors to rest, but he still had a few choice things to say about the PGA Tour.
“If I had gone to LIV, I don’t think I would have become a better golfer,” Hovland said recently on the Fore podcast. (translated into English by Sports Illustrated). “And then it is, in a way, the end of discussion.
“But I can’t blame people who make that decision and go over there. Then we have to try to find an arrangement in the end. We’ll see.”
Hovland understood why Jon Rahm ultimately chose to leave the tour and head to the Saudi-backed league. There were around $300 million reasons why he made the decision.
“It would be a bit silly to criticize the players for leaving,” he said. “After all, you only hear one angle in the media, and there are quite a few different parts happening at the same time here. I totally understand why he left. 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. 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.
“When you 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 businessmen who say that, ‘No, it should look like this and that.’ There is a great deal of arrogance behind it all,” he said.
Hovland said he doubts he would make the trek himself to leave the tour.
Rory McIlroy also couldn’t blame Rahm for leaving.
“He seems like he wants to live his life the right way,” McIlory said earlier this month. He wants to be a good dad; he wants to be a good husband. You can’t judge someone for making a decision that they feel is the best thing for them.”
