Scottie Scheffler's LIV Golf caveat, Rory McIlroy criticism and Jon Rahm regret
As intrigue continues over the future of top-level professional golf, here's a round-up of world No. 1 and PGA superstar Scottie Scheffler's stance on the Saudi-backed LIV tour
Saudi-backed LIV Golf ripped up the golfing landscape when it entered the sport two years ago, sparking a battle for supremacy with the PGA Tour.
However, LIV hasn’t been able to get its hands on the game's top dog, Scottie Scheffler, who has remained loyal to the PGA Tour despite seeing some of his biggest rivals take the money and run. Ahead of this week’s Open Championship at Troon, where the 28-year-old will be among the favourites for victory, here’s a round-up of Scheffler’s stance on the controversial rebel tour and what he has said about the defectors...
LIV Golf caveat
Scheffler has made his feelings clear on the players who switched to LIV. He insists has no qualms with any of them for making the lucrative switch but doesn’t believe they should be able to return to the PGA Tour unpunished as talks over a potential merger continue.
Speaking in February, Scheffler acknowledged there were “different levels” of defections since LIV careered onto the tee box. He told the Golf Channel: “You had some guys that left our tour and then sued our tour. That wasn't really in great taste.
“Then you had some other guys that just left and they wanted to do something different. Everybody made their own decision and I have no bad blood towards the guys that left. But a path towards coming back, I think it wouldn't be a very popular decision if they just came back like nothing ever happened.”
He added: "I think there should be a pathway back for them, but they definitely shouldn't be able to come back without any sort of contribution to the tour, if that makes sense.”
Fellow PGA Tour loyalists Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler have aired similar views.
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Rory McIlroy criticism
While Scheffler’s stance towards LIV has remained solid, Rory McIlroy has done a stunning about turn. Having been one of the rebel tour’s fiercest critics, the Northern Irishman’s stance has softened since June last year, when peace broke out between the sport’s warring factions.
McIlroy was seen as something of a lone voice in the opposition to LIV, while the likes of Scheffler kept his council for the most part. Earlier this year, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee was highly critical of Scheffler, among others, for not showing McIlroy more support in the early days of the sport’s civil war.
“I felt like Rory was out there and was a force against the source of the money for LIV, and he was a formidable source for the PGA Tour, and he didn’t get the support from any of the players,” said Chamblee.
“I didn’t hear Jordan Spieth being vocal in support of him. I didn’t hear Justin Thomas. I didn’t hear Scottie Scheffler. I didn’t hear Xander Schauffele. I didn’t hear any of them as forcefully as Rory was speaking out on the issue.
“It was like he was taking most of the heat, if not all of the heat. I think after a while, I don’t know it to be the case, I haven’t talked to Rory, but I think after a while, it was, ‘listen, I’ve done everything I can do and I’m not getting any support, so I’m going to bow out. Why is it up to me to fight this whole battle myself?’”
Jon Rahm regret
The competitive animal in Scheffler is sad not to be competing against the LIV stars on a regular basis. One of the most surprising rebels was John Rahm, who accepted almost £400million to switch sides.
“To be completely honest, Jon was one of my favourite people to play against,” he told Sky Sports earlier this year. "We had some good battles throughout the years and I was pretty surprised that he decided to take the money and leave. I've got a lot of good friends over there.
“Brooks [Koepka] left, DJ [Dustin Johnson] left and I definitely miss seeing a lot of those guys. They were a big part of my life out here on tour and it's still a bit weird that they're not around.
“We'll see what happens in the future, but I definitely miss competing against some of those guys. It's one of those deals, it's just kind of a strange time in the game of golf.”
Kept in the dark
It’s more than a year since LIV’s Saudi backers and the PGA Tour called a ceasefire and started talks on how they could co-exist or even merge. However, Scheffler has confessed to being none the wiser as to how the future of professional golf will look in the future.
Speaking last month, he said: “I'm not really too much a part of it, so I haven't really heard too much, so I don't know if they're going great or if they're going poorly.
“Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Hopefully they will continue to progress, but we'll see. But definitely no frustration or anything like that for me. It's out of my control, so I'm not too worried about it.”
Message to fans
Golf fans have understandably grown frustrated at not seeing the world ’s best players compete against each other on a regular basis. However, Scheffler has made it clear where he feels the blame lies for that.
Speaking ahead of this year’s Players Championship, he didn’t hold back, saying: “If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left. 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.
“I think we’re trying to do our best to create the best product for the fans, but we can’t control whether or not guys want to leave. If guys want to go take the money and leave, then that’s their decision.
“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.”
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