Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland completely at odds over raging PGA Tour debate
Viktor Hovland has joined Xander Schauffele in calling out PGA Tour commissioner, despite Rory McIlroy's comments supporting Jay Monahan.
The PGA Tour chief's future with the organisation has been a subject of debate since last summer, following the groundbreaking announcement of the organisation merging with the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf circuit. The deal was struck between Monahan and Saudi Public Investment Fund chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan without any players on either side knowing about it.
There were immediately calls for Monahan to lose his job or step aside, with players left furious and blindsided. He earned back some praise when the PGA Tour agreed an investment package with Strategic Sports Group, but not everyone is convinced.
Ahead of the Players Championship this week, Monahan spoke to the press about his future and insisted he still retains the full support of the board and players alike. But now, world No.4 Hovland has become the latest PGA Tour star to speak out on Monahan's leadership, and expressed he felt mistakes have been made.
"There were some things that were said that have been walked back on & then things that have been very contradictory," he said. "As a leader of an organization, 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.
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"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."
Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy appear to be at odds over PGA Tour commissioner Jay MonahanMcIlroy, who has been open about his relationship with Monahan, insisted this week that context is needed when discussing the commissioner's tenure and future, while conceding the backlash to last year's merger chaos was warranted.
"You look at what Jay has done since he took over," McIlroy said. "The media rights deal, navigating us through Covid, the strategic alliance with the DP World Tour; I would say creating PGA Tour Enterprises, we were just able to accept $1.5bn [from investors Strategic Sports Group] in the business.
"People can nit-pick and say he didn't do this right or didn't do that right, but if you actually step back and look at the bigger picture, I think the PGA Tour is in a far stronger position than when Jay took over.
"I think some of the reaction to June 6 was warranted, but I think at this point it's eight months ago, and we all need to move on. We all need to sort of move forward and try to bring the game back together."
McIlroy's comments came in direct response to criticism from Xander Schauffele, who expressed Monahan had a long way to go before he has the full support of players. "Trust is something that's pretty tender, so words are words, and I would say in my book he's got a long way to go," Schauffele said.
"He could be the guy, but in my book, he's got a long way to go to gain the trust of the membership. I'm sure he's got the support of the board, since they were with him making some of those decisions, but for me personally he's got quite a way to go."
Rory McIlroy threw his support behind PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan (Sky Sports)Despite the negativity towards Monahan, Patrick Cantlay insists all he wants is for everyone to be on the same side. "I think it's really important that we're all rowing in the same direction," Cantlay said.
"I think with this PGA Tour Enterprises board, I think it's really exciting that we do have a chance to kind of start with something new and all move together in the right direction.
"Right now, he's definitely our leader, and so it's important that we're all doing our best, and like I said, rowing in the right direction to do what's best for the membership and the Tour."
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