Viktor Hovland accuses PGA Tour boss of sweeping LIV mistakes 'under the rug'
Viktor Hovland appears to believe PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hasn't been held accountable for his handling of the battle with LIV Golf.
Viktor Hovland believes PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hasn't been held accountable for his handling of the LIV Golf mess.
The Norwegian has previously made it clear he's unhappy with PGA Tour officials.
Last December, the reigning FedEx Cup champion and European Ryder Cup star said the Tour had done 'a damn bad job' over the last two years.
Hovland even went as far as saying PGA Tour officials had behaved 'arrogantly' by making decisions without players' consent.
"Without the players, there is nothing," he blasted.
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Fast-forward a few months and it's clear the 26-year-old is still not pleased.
Hovland made it clear to reporters the aforementioned Monahan is allowed to make mistakes. He is human, after all.
But there needs to be accountability.
"I don't know exactly what we should have been done because at the end of the day I don't have all the information," Hovland said in reference to the Tour's leadership since June 2022.
He added: "But at the same time, there were some things that were said that has been walked back on and then things have been very contradictory.
"As a leader of an organisation, I will want a person like that to take some ownership and say, 'Hey, we made a couple of mistakes, but this is how we're going to rectify it', instead of kind of sweeping it under the rug, which I felt like has been done to a certain degree.
"So I don't mind people making mistakes. We all make mistakes. But I think when you make a mistake you got to own up to it and say, 'Hey, we're trying to do better here, and this is how we're going to do it.'"
It's clear Monahan believes he is still the right man for the job.
Some players, such as Xander Schauffele, have cast doubt on whether he should remain at the helm.
Rory McIlroy also weighed in on Monahan's future before the Players.
As far as the Northern Irishman is concerned, Monahan was right to take some criticism after the 6 June 2023 announcement to merge PGA Tour's commercial interests with LIV's financiers.
But we should now move on.
For his part Monahan claims to have owned his mistake for not being transparent with the PGA Tour's membership.
But he has refused to divulge any details as to how close the Tour is to striking a deal with the Saudi PIF.
Monahan said talks with the PIF are 'accelerating' and it's unclear if some players know more than they are letting on.
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A reporter asked Hovland: "What's it like for a player to look at Jay -- and you mentioned the word ownership a minute ago -- but not being able to tell you even if you did want to know?"
Hovland said: "Yeah, that's a fine balance. It's a tricky thing. I'm not saying I have all the answers, and I'm sure Jay and the leadership had their reasons to do the things that they did.
"I just think there has to be some reconciliation between, okay, it's a member organization where the leadership is representing the membership, and then decisions are being made without the players knowing about these decisions, or even having the information present, then I think there has to be some transparency between that to at least save some face and saying that, hey, we represent the players and this is a membership organization or a players organization.
"I think those two lines have to be reconciled a little bit better."
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