Viktor Hovland Shatters the LIV Golf Hype, Commits Loyalty to the PGA Tour With Latest AT&T Pebble Beach Notice

Viktor Hovland once again quashes all the LIV Golf rumors. The Norwegian earlier brushed aside the LIV tattle by saying the format doesn’t interest him. Hovland also played at the Sentry, where he managed a 22nd-place finish. Still, the rumor was that the 2023 Tour Championship winner was going to dramatically bolt to the PIF-funded side. But Hovland clearly had other plans, as his commitment to the next PGA Tour Signature event shows.

PGA Tour Communications released the 67-player field for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am kick-starting next week. Viktor Hovland is in the field. The official handle of the Tour on X (formerly Twitter) tweeted, “All 67 players eligible for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am via one of these categories are committed:—Top 50 in the 2022–23 FedExCup; Aon Next 10 (51–60 in the 2022–23 FedExCup Fall); Race to Dubai (top finisher not otherwise exempt)—2024 TOUR winners—Sponsor exemption (*).”

Aside from Hovland, another PGAT star heavily linked with LIV Golf has also committed to the Pebble Beach outing. Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open winner, will also tee up at the $20M purse event on February 1. The 30-year-old skipped the Farmers Insurance Open after coming 39th at the American Express. Accompanying Hovland & Clark, British Ryder Cupper Tyrrell Hatton, too, is in the 67-man field. The Englishman has been touted as Jon Rahm’s teammate on his LIV Golf team, allegedly named, Legion XIII.

The Norwegian’s commitment is likely to be a shot in the arm for the PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, and the departing DP World Tour CEO, Keith Pelley. Both parties are locked in talks with PIF, the Saudi Sovereign Fund that powers LIV Golf. Reportedly, Monahan was in the Middle Eastern country last week for an in-person meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF Chief.

Amid the ongoing talks, LIV Golf seemed to have snooped in on the DP World Tour’s Player of the Year, Adrian Meronk, who earned his PGA Tour Card this season. In fact, according to some reports, Meronk is a done deal. The Polish star, who was “shocked” by the Ryder Cup snub, is set to join Martin Kaymer and Richard Bland’s Cleeks GC. Hovland, though, has expressed his dissatisfaction with both PGAT & LIV only last month.

Viktor Hovland lets go of his frustration with the current situation

The 26-year-old in an interview with ‘Fore’ podcast from his home country, spoke candidly about LIV Golf and Jon Rahm’s move. While refusing to reprimand the defending Masters Champion, the six-time PGA Tour winner was unimpressed with LIV Golf. “I don’t think their product is that great. I’m not such a fan of, for example, playing without a cut… 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.“

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That, however, was not the end of the discussion. Rather the Scandinavian’s frustration with the Tour management overshadowed his LIV Golf criticism. “The management has not done a good job. They almost see the players as labor, and not as part of the members… There is a great deal of arrogance behind it all.” So despite teeing up at the Hawaii season-opener, the Internet was abuzz with Hovland’s departure to the Saudi side. 

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