Viktor Hovland has exposed a problem with Pebble Beach with his comments after day one of the AT&T Pro-Am tournament

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Viktor Hovland’s comments after his first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am could have exposed a problem for the PGA Tour.

At a time when slow play is dominating the headlines, the PGA Tour hierarchy could potentially be reluctant to face up to any other emerging problems.

However, ensuring courses remain competitive is another issue which must be tackled. Hideki Matsuyama’s 35-under-par win at The Sentry was unentertaining and, quite frankly, not what golf fans want to watch.

Viewers want the best players tested, and ensuring courses are challenging is perhaps another area where the PGA Tour is currently falling short.

What Viktor Hovland has said about Pebble Beach and why it’s a problem

Speaking after his first round, Hovland claimed that Pebble Beach, for the most part, is a driver and wedge course. “If you hit driver pretty straight, you get a lot of wedges in your hands,” said the Norwegian.

This situation can probably be extrapolated to over 80% of PGA Tour courses. Distance is no longer a challenge for the world’s best players, no matter how far they move the tees back.

Pebble Beach’s small greens are known as its defence. However, when the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have a wedge in hand, the putting surfaces only need to be five yards wide.

• READ MORE: Viktor Hovland reveals the common piece of golfing advice which annoys him and that he doesn’t want to hear

Pebble Beach can still prove tough test despite Viktor Hovland’s comments

Despite Pebble Beach perhaps being relatively easy this week, the course could still show its teeth.

Scheffler noted the firm greens in his pre-tournament press conference, and any player who misses on the wrong side of the hole will struggle to get down in two putts.

If the rain stays away, the course’s severe slopes and slippery putting surfaces could cause issues. Pebble Beach is still an incredible venue and one of the USA’s great golfing tests. However, right now, when the rough is down, it’s just not quite challenging enough for the current elite golfers.

But, as Rory McIlroy discovered on the back nine on Friday, the six-time US Open can be tricky to navigate when the wind gets up, as the latter stages of day two demonstrated.