According to Viktor Hovland, the PGA Tour has screwed up

Last week, the PGA Tour officially announced Brian Rolapp as the upcoming CEO. The beginning of the Rolapp era refers to the beginning of the late Jay Monaghan era, which also means that the next chapter of PGA Tour-Liv-Liv Saga – certainly a question of the definition of the Rolapp term – is also beginning.

More than three years since Liv’s first show-up contest and the ensuing crazy summer, the tour has been steady. The players stopped leaving to a large extent. Sponsors stick to it to a large extent. TV ratings are largely backed up. The status of this trip is optimistic. But that doesn’t mean everything is perfect, nor does it mean that professional golf keeps healing. As evidence, this week, the Rockets Classic in Detroit will face to face with Lef’s Dallas event. So even as temperatures cool down in the competition between the league vs. league, the ongoing split makes people wonder what will be done differently.

Interestingly, whether we would get some kind of exit interview, in hindsight, long-term commish gets stuck in some issues. Meanwhile, we have Viktor Hovland.

Hovland has been one of the top players on the tour for the past few years and one of its most interesting talkers. Most of the time, he would be asked about his golf swing and sometimes about the state of the world. Before last week’s Travelers Championship (before Hofland’s unfortunate WD), he participated in an interview with Brendan Porath of the “Shot Gun Start” podcast, where he spoke freely and provided a particularly interesting companion for Monahan’s turnovers and the state of the tour.

Hofland said he has not participated in introducing the Rolapp’s previous player. He has been part of Titleists. He knows nothing about their new leader, but he says he is not surprised by Monahan’s exit after what has been called “ordefeat” in the past few years and has expressed some skepticism in his lengthy exit plan. “I don’t know how normal it is to announce that you are leaving and still working for 18 months,” he said. Hovland’s easiest answer (and my money, the most insightful one) when Porath asked him what he thought the tour would do better.

“I mean, I think everything will get better,” he said, and then he became more specific. “Especially the messaging of the past few years, of course, in the face of the LIV Tour, I think the PGA Tour hasn’t really adopted the best strategy, right? I think this tour is definitely leveraged in historical events, traditions. I think they should be working on it more. Just in the competition for money games and the tough guys, it’s a competition guy.

As a newly designated signature event, travelers have increased their spending over the past few seasons. Keegan Bradley just won $3.6 million from a $20 million wallet. But in Hofland’s mind, the event, which was formerly known as the “Greater Hartford Open”, is more meaningful than the check in the first place.

“It’s a great event and I think it’s really cool to go back to where you know the champions of the past. That Guy wins That shooting. Like, that’s what makes the PGA Tour. That’s why people watch. “You’ll see storylines from the best players in the world, win again, defend victory, and new emerging players change their career trajectory by winning tournaments or the highest game,” Hofland said. I think this trip really needs to wear out that news and in my opinion will create a better storyline. ”

Still, unlike some of his peers, Hofland would prefer others to deal with politics and storytelling. He said he did not invest in Tour governance in particular, given his investment in his own game.

“The last few years have not been the best course for me, so I’m really focused on it,” he said. What did he do about it?

“Just following something is going on, it’s a little exhausting,” he said. “I can draw a lot of similarities from the PGA Tour until politics in general. That’s how the more I invest myself, the more frustrated I get.”

“But this tour did a lot of really good things and I’m so happy to be in every game and play,” he added. “That’s what I want to focus on – but I think the management is a bit messy.”

Hovland made its debut in 2019 Travelers. He believes he is a more complete player in many ways. He hits longer, is in better physical condition, has a shorter game, he can read the green better, he can play in both directions, and he is more comfortable under pressure. Despite this, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for the simplicity of the past.

“At that time I just stood up and hit the ball, the ball went straight and took it for granted ignorance – those days were very interesting.”

Then many things are simpler.

You can listen to Hovland’s full shotgun start the interview here (and learn his favorite fruit here). You can sneak into Hofland’s golf mentality in the warm-up interview below.

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