13 March 2024 , 07:00
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As men’s professional golf continues to face lingering tensions and divisions within the sport, Scottie Scheffler directed blame for the hostile climate towards those who defected to LIV Golf.
Speaking for just the third time since announcing a surprise “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — the backers of LIV Golf — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan conceded on Tuesday that fans were growing "tired of hearing about conflict, money and who is getting what.” As negotiations between both sides continue to drag on with no end in sight, he sympathised with fans’ desire “to watch the world's best golfers compete with history and at venues that they recognise and love.”
When asked if he and other golfers on the PGA Tour were worried about golf fans’ growing discontent with the current reality of the game, Scheffler didn’t hesitate to point fingers at others.
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“If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left,” Scheffler said before the start of The Players Championship, which he won last year. “We had a tour, we were all together and the people that left are no longer here. At the end of the day, that's where the splintering comes from. As far as our tour goes, like I said, we're doing our best to create the best product for the fans, and that's really where we're at.”
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While Scheffler has never been swayed by the exorbitant contracts given out to big-name golfers in LIV Golf, he didn’t blame other players for leaving the PGA Tour to earn more money with the Saudi-backed league.
Jay Monahan sympathised with annoyed golf fans (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)“If guys want to go take the money and leave, then that's their decision,” Scheffler said. “I'm not going to sit here and tell guys not to take hundreds of millions of dollars. If that's what they think is best for their life, then go do it. I'm not going to sit here and force guys to stay on our tour. But at the end of the day, this is where I want to be, and we're continuing to grow what we're doing, and what they're doing is not really a concern to me.”
Despite missing the initial December 31 deadline to reach a merger agreement, Monahan insisted that the situation is nearing a positive outcome. LIV Golf, meanwhile, gave up on its repeated attempts to have its players be represented in the Official World Golf Ranking. Scheffler, who currently owns the title of No. 1, argued the pecking order is “skewed” due to their absence.
“There's certain groups of guys that aren't getting any ranking points,” Scheffler said. “It was kind of the thing that you saw when guys went to LIV. Their golf games took a little bit of a hit, just basically from a strokes gained perspective. The world rankings I still think is a good ranking system, but it's missing a few players, for sure."