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Aberg - I Will Never Chase Money
In June Ludvig Aberg was still an amateur, now he has won on the two main tours and has played on a winning Ryder Cup team. And he's yet to play in a Major despite being the World No. 32.
So some of the big headlines this week surrounded the Swede's stance on LIV Golf, something he was asked about on a Eurosport podcast.
“There were a number of red flags, which is not good. We realised that I could potentially burn a lot of bridges and I wasn't interested in that. When I look back, I am very confident in my decision. I will never chase money; what I do is compete. I did the right thing,” the 24-year-old said.
“I want to play against the best, because I am a competitive person and like to compete against the best players. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that at the moment, it’s a bit more fragmented. When I look at the PGA Tour and the competitions there, there is so much history around all the competitions. And that’s what I like, that’s what I go for. But then you have to respect everyone’s decisions.”
His Ryder Cup partner Viktor Hovland also gave his thoughts on the Saudi circuit – the Norwegian is now the World No. 4, one place behind Jon Rahm, and he would be able to command a huge signing-on fee but he is staying put.
“I don’t think their product is that great. I’m not such a fan of, for example, playing without a cut,” Hovland said. “You need the competition with 150 players and a cut. If you don’t play well enough, you’re out. There is something about it that makes your game a little sharper. 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.”
One thing that everyone is agreed on is how the whole sorry saga has been managed by the PGA Tour.
"The management has not done a good job. They almost see the players as labour, 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.”
So some of the big headlines this week surrounded the Swede's stance on LIV Golf, something he was asked about on a Eurosport podcast.
“There were a number of red flags, which is not good. We realised that I could potentially burn a lot of bridges and I wasn't interested in that. When I look back, I am very confident in my decision. I will never chase money; what I do is compete. I did the right thing,” the 24-year-old said.
“I want to play against the best, because I am a competitive person and like to compete against the best players. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that at the moment, it’s a bit more fragmented. When I look at the PGA Tour and the competitions there, there is so much history around all the competitions. And that’s what I like, that’s what I go for. But then you have to respect everyone’s decisions.”
His Ryder Cup partner Viktor Hovland also gave his thoughts on the Saudi circuit – the Norwegian is now the World No. 4, one place behind Jon Rahm, and he would be able to command a huge signing-on fee but he is staying put.
“I don’t think their product is that great. I’m not such a fan of, for example, playing without a cut,” Hovland said. “You need the competition with 150 players and a cut. If you don’t play well enough, you’re out. There is something about it that makes your game a little sharper. 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.”
One thing that everyone is agreed on is how the whole sorry saga has been managed by the PGA Tour.
"The management has not done a good job. They almost see the players as labour, 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.”
