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🏌🏻 Hovland Rips PGA
Plus: How it started vs how it's going, and more
Good morning. PGA Tour and LIV Golf saga is still making all the news apart from the tournaments in play.
In this edition, Hovland rips PGA Tour and we showcase what some of the golfers said about LIV Golf and how they turned around, and is this saga actually turning golf fans away from the sport?
We cover this and much more…
So, amidst the day's activities, let's take a quick journey into the latest in golf.
🏌🏻 Deal of the day: 39% off on Adidas Men's Tour360 22 Golf Shoes. Check out the deal here.
⛳ This day in history: In 1980, the winningest female champion in USGA history with eight titles, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, was named the recipient of the 1981 Bob Jones Award.
ALBATROS
Viktor Hovland Is Not Going To LIV Golf, Rips PGA Tour
Photo: Fernando Llano/AP | Source: Sports Illustrated
Viktor Hovland, the reigning FedExCup champion and current No. 4-ranked golfer, shut down rumors Monday that he was going to make the jump to the Saudi Arabian-backed league.
Though he isn’t going to follow in Rahm’s footsteps, Hovland gets why Rahm did what he did.
“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 on the “Fore!” podcast in Norwegian, via Golfweek. “I totally understand why he left. That’s a lot, a lot of money.”
Hovland ripped Tour leadership Monday for how they’ve handled this saga with LIV Golf in recent years.
“The management has not done a good job,” he said. “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 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.”
TWEET
Worth Mentioning
🌬️ 🌬️ 🌬️
The PCC has been modified slightly to better reflect the impact of abnormal course and weather conditions.
Tap to learn more 👇
— USGA (@USGA)
12:13 AM • Dec 19, 2023
EAGLE
How It Started vs How It’s Going: Players On LIV Golf
Photo: Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf | Source: USA Today
With a late 2023 defection of Jon Rahm from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, this seemed like a good time to play everyone’s favorite social media game, “How it started vs. how it’s going.”
Some have changed drastically on their stance. Others have remained consistent. Here’s a look at a few:
Dustin Johnson
Feb. 20, 2022: 'I am fully committed to the PGA Tour'
June 7, 2022: 'I have chosen what is best for myself and my family'
Bryson DeChambeau
Feb. 20, 2022: 'As long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I'
June 7, 2023: 'I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players'
Phil Mickelson
Feb. 17, 2022: 'They’re scary motherf—–s to get involved with'
Feb. 22, 2022: 'It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words'
June 8, 2022: 'Nobody here condones human rights violations, and nobody here is trying to make up for anything'
Oct. 20, 2023: 'We’ll just keep getting better and better and getting better and better players'
Brooks Koepka
Feb. 9, 2022: 'I’m with the PGA Tour, it’s where I’m staying'
June 28, 2022: 'My opinion changed'
LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news
Team Phil: Phil Mickelson replaces one U.S. Amateur champion with another for 2024 LIV Golf season.
Team Langer: Bernhard Langer becomes oldest winner with record-tying fifth PNC Championship title, at age 66 while playing with 23-year-old son Jason.
Team Kids: Christmas comes early for the kids at PNC Championship who call it the best week of the year.
Overcoming Tragedy: Following the death of his 3-year-old daughter, Hayden Springer was one of five players to earn their cards in PGA Tour Q School.
Charlie Woods’ Deal: Charlie Woods signs apparel deal with Greyson Clothing as former NFL star Larry Fitzgerald extends a warm welcome on Instagram.
BIRDIE
Are Casual Golf Fans Turning Away?
Original article by Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun
“I just don’t watch golf as much as I used to.”
“I watch the majors, but that’s about it.”
“The PGA Tour tells me the best players play here when some of the best players don’t play there.”
Those are just a few of the comments through phone calls, emails and text messages I’ve received in recent months about the PGA Tour. And almost all of the comments have come in relation to the ongoing battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour may also have a sponsorship problem. Wells Fargo has already announced it is leaving its tournament after 2024, unwilling to meet the financial demands of the tour for an elevated (or signature) event.
AT&T left the Byron Nelson tournament in Texas, apparently to have the money for a signature event at Pebble Beach. Sponsors come and go from time to time, but the PGA Tour needs stability these days, even in sponsorships.