Over the past few years, LIV Golf has been successful in taking some of the best players in the world and inking them to multi-year, guaranteed contracts. Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and Tyrrell Hatton have all made the jump to the rival tour, but plenty of players have declined.

Viktor Hovland is among the stars who chose to stay on the PGA Tour. While speaking with The Times, the Norwegian explained his decision.

“I have no hard feelings against the guys that went. I completely understand because there are a lot of grey areas at the moment but, for me, I did not think their product was appealing enough to go. Obviously, they’re throwing out a lot of money, but I’ve already made a lot of money. I’m not a very materialistic person. It’s nice to make life easier for yourself, but that’s not what gets me up in the morning.”

“At the end of the day, the question is ‘What’s going to make me a better player?’ And hey, in 20 years, if I’m on the back end of my career, playing LIV Golf wouldn’t be too bad. It might have been a pretty cool opportunity but, right now, it’s something I think I’d probably look back [on] and regret.”

Hovland seems content with his decision to stay on the PGA Tour but added that he does wish the PGA Tour was more transparent with the players when the LIV threat surfaced.

“A lot of the players I’ve talked to want more transparency. And if you claim you’re representing our best interests, you at least meet with the people involved.

“Now we’re in this stalemate or whatever you want to call it, but it’s not something that required the prediction of 20 different chess moves.

“I’m not a guy that just wants to blindly follow people and be told what to do,” he said. “I want to understand everything.”

Hovland will tee it up this week at Royal Troon with sights set on his first major championship.

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On Monday, the world of golf was put into collective disbelief when Keegan Bradley was appointed as the 2025 United States team Ryder Cup captain. The vast majority of fans and media lauded the choice, but it was a surprising one, nonetheless.

During his pre-tournament press conference, Rory McIlroy, who was the leading point scorer in the 2023 Ryder Cup, was asked for his thoughts on the Bradley appointment.

“I think it has come as a surprise for everyone. We had dinner in London on Sunday night with Luke [Donald], and he told us then.

“Its’ an interesting appointment. The youngest captain since Arnold Palmer I think was a playing captain as 34. But he knows Bethpage very well. He went to university in the area. He’s obviously very passionate about the Ryder Cup.

‘It’s certainly a departure from what the US have done over the last few years, and time will tell if that’s a good thing or not.”

When he was asked how the room reacted while the European team was out to dinner, he said “disbelief.”

“I think disbelief, probably. I think Keegan was probably in disbelief, at some point, too, but it’s certainly an interesting pick.”

McIlroy got off to a hot start at the Scottish Open, where he is the defending champion. He will have to chase down Ludvig Aberg, who is leading after he completed his first 36 holes.

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Slow play has once again become a topic of discussion in professional golf. Earlier this week, LIV Golf’s Thomas Pieters said he believes players on the DP World Tour are “cheating” due to the fact that they are knowingly taking more time to hit their shots than the rules allow.

It’s in the R&A’s rule book how much time you can take so in my eyes they are cheating.. ?????

— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) July 7, 2024

Yesterday, LPGA Tour superstar, Nelly Korda, spoke on the subject of slow play as well.

The 25-year-old is preparing for the Evian Championship this week, where Carlota Ciganda was disqualified last year for slow play.

After last year’s event, Nelly supported the decision that led to Ciganda’s disqualification.

“I really like Carlota. She’s a great person. I enjoy playing with her. I am a fast player, but I would say at the end of the day the rules of golf are the rules of golf, and it’s good that it’s being enforced.”

This week at her pre-tournament press conference, she doubled down on her stance.

“If I was a spectator and I was out here for five-and-a-half hours to six hours, you know, it’s tough to watch. You want to watch a sport that’s continuously moving and not continuously stalling. I would say I think it’s really important for the rules officials to enforce the rules of golf.”

“I just think the faster people play is better for the game,” Korda said. “The rules need to be enforced and we have seen that. I think the LPGA Tour is doing a better job. I still think there is some room for improvement, and it’s going to be better for the game of golf if there aren’t three groups on one hole.

“I know there is tough golf courses and conditions too that you need to take into account. But at the end of the day, the more we improve the pace of play the more people are going to be interested in watching, coming out and not just watching on TV.”

Korda comes into the major championship missing her last three cuts after winning six of eight events to start the season.

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