{"id":457868,"date":"2026-02-04T13:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457868\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:07:11","slug":"what-precedent-are-you-setting-tour-star-questions-koepka-reed-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457868\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What precedent are you setting?\u2019 Tour star questions Koepka-Reed moves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viktor Hovland, on a personal level, says he thought three words when he learned that Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, both former LIV Golf pros, were returning to the PGA Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that\u2019s interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I just go about my day,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI got stuff to do, things to figure out, so that\u2019s about the amount of calories I\u2019m spending on reacting to things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the seven-time Tour winner<\/a> said Tuesday he could understand the moves that have allowed Koepka and Reed to return. The players are unquestionably great, he said. But, in a press conference ahead of this week\u2019s WM Phoenix Open<\/a>, Hovland wondered whether other Tour pros would jump to LIV, then be allowed to return \u201cwithout the biggest consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat precedent are you setting then?\u201d he asked.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

These thoughts followed announcements last month saying that Koepka and Reed will be returning to the PGA Tour after four-season stints with LIV, though each will do so differently. Koepka<\/a> returned last week under the \u201cReturning Member Program,\u201d which was offered to LIV players who had won a major championship over the past four years, and his penalty included making a $5 million charitable donation and not receiving access to the Tour\u2019s equity program for five years nor a bonus program for 2026. Reed<\/a>, meanwhile, will serve a one-year suspension that started after LIV\u2019s final event last season, meaning he would be eligible to return on Aug. 25, and he, too, will not have access to the equity program until 2030. In the meantime, Reed said he would play DP World Tour events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the days since the announcements, multiple pros have been asked for their thoughts, as Hovland was on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, just for my personal standpoint, I would say I enjoy playing against those guys,\u201d he said. \u201cI think obviously Patrick Reed being a major champion and great player and Brooks a five-time major champion, that\u2019s a great addition to the PGA Tour. They\u2019re great players and I want to compete against the greatest players out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it just makes the products, the fields better. However, it does kind of put the Tour in a tricky position now. You\u2019ve said one thing for a long time and now we\u2019re changing things. What precedent are you setting then to the future players now if I can go to a rival tour, get paid, and now seemingly come back again without the biggest consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have an opinion on that, to be honest. That\u2019s something the Tour has to figure out. I\u2019m sure there is a lot of people not going to be super happy about that, but at the end of the day, I just want to compete against the best players in the world.<\/p>\n


\n \"2026 <\/a><\/p>\n

2026 WM Phoenix Open: TV schedule, streaming info, how to watch, tee times<\/a><\/p>\n

By:<\/p>\n


\n Kevin Cunningham <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in a place where I have to figure stuff out in my own game, and that\u2019s basically where I\u2019m focusing on. I don\u2019t really want to focus on what the Tour should be doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, in a story written two years ago by Tom Kershaw of the Telegraph<\/a>, Hovland said he had told his agent to look into a deal to join LIV, but he ultimately stayed with the Tour. \u201cAt the end of the day, the question is \u2018What\u2019s going to make me a better player?\u2019\u201d Hovland said in Kershaw\u2019s story. \u201cAnd hey, in 20 years, if I\u2019m on the back end of my career, playing LIV Golf wouldn\u2019t be too bad. It might have been a pretty cool opportunity but, right now, it\u2019s something I think I\u2019d probably look back and regret.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Hovland was asked if the Koepka and Reed moves made him \u201creconsider any of the decisions\u201d he had made in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just see the news and I go, oh, that\u2019s interesting, and then I just go about my day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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