Before the inevitable questions about his putting were asked, the world’s No. Scottie Schreffler, world No. 1, was asked Tuesday to comment on the latest developments regarding the PGA Tour and PIF deal after the Tour testified at a Senate Subcommittee Hearing.
Scheffler, speaking on Wednesday at the Genesis Scottish Open in North Berwick (Scotland), said that the questions he receives during his press conferences “always surprises me.” Scheffler said, “It always surprises me” when he is asked questions at his press conferences.
Scheffler was asked about his reaction after watching Tour Executive Ron Price and Policy Board director Jimmy Dunne in Washington, D.C., answer questions for three hours by several Senators, led by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Scheffler replied, “we really didn’t learn much, again.” We as players on the Tour still haven’t a clear understanding of what is going on, and this is a little worrying. We don’t have all the information we need. They say it’s run by players. I only watched a part of yesterday, and learned nothing. “I don’t really know what to say.”
Scheffler reiterated his company’s line, while expressing dismay over the way the announcement of the agreement was made. He said, “It is just a framework contract right now. I do not know what it entails.” “We’re not involved in any discussions.” “We don’t really” because none of the players was involved in the original frame greet.
Scottie Scheffler swung out of a bunker at the 16th hole during a U.S. Open practice round. Kiyoshi MIO-USA TODAY Sport
Scheffler replied, “Probably not.” When asked if he had been involved in the game, Scheffler responded, “Probably no.” I am sure that some of our players should have been involved.
He added, “I try to keep my mind down and play golf.” “I’m not too interested in that kind of stuff. The PGA Tour is my favorite place to play golf. I hope that will continue for a very long time. I thought we were doing an excellent job, but then came the agreement and we now have to negotiate the entire deal.
“I believe the Tour is trying hard to provide us with more information, but as I said earlier, it can be difficult to negotiate everything to be public when you are in negotiations. Negotiating the public aspect is difficult. “I understand that privacy is important but I wish our players’ representatives were more involved.”
Scheffler, one of more than 20 players who gathered at the BMW Championship last August in Delaware to discuss the future of golf. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy organized the meeting that resulted in the agreement to play 18 events this season with purses between $15 million and $25 million. Only Joaquin Niemann attended the meeting and later switched to LIV. Scheffler is asked if the meeting was a waste.
He said: “I thought the announcement of the merger was a waste of my time, but I think that it was good to bring everyone together.” “I believe that we have banded together and you may have seen [Golfweek]’s article on Patrick [Cantlay] that was published a few months ago. A lot of guys posted on social media about it.
We are trying to reach a consensus right now. We are a players-run organization so we do our best to make it feel like that.
Scheffler said that, in theory, the current Tour system is still working. It has a 16-player player advisory council which the members vote on and who then pass the concerns of players along to five-player directors.
Scheffler stated that “as long as player directors voices are heard, we put them there. We want their voices heard. And that was the only disappointment with the initial announcement, that none of these four or five guys had been involved at all.” As far as the way things are now going, there is open communication. As the weeks passed, we had many discussions with Tour officials and players about the stuff. I feel that we are moving in the right direction.
Scheffler admitted that it was a little disconcerting to him that Randall Stephenson, long-time Tour independent director and former CEO of AT&T stepped down last week from the Board, saying in a written letter that the PIF deal with Saudi Arabia “is not something that I can objectively assess or in good conscience endorse.”
It was a bit worrying that someone of his caliber wouldn’t have been on board. Scheffler stated that we have player reps on the advisory board and other people who are also members. “Any time we lose a member of that group, it is definitely concerning,” Scheffler added. “Those guys were put in place for a purpose, and it’s hard for us to lose anyone.” We’ll have to wait and see.
Scheffler’s recent putting struggles were explained by him as follows: “I think I am a very good hitter, and that everything will return to average.”
