Scottie Scheffler slams (!) 'ridiculous article' about fellow PGA Tour pro

Scottie Scheffler has condemned a 'ridiculous' article about a fellow PGA Tour pro as he offered his take on the LIV Golf/PIF Senate hearing.

Ben Smith

12 Jul 2023

Scottie Scheffler slams (!) 'ridiculous article' about fellow PGA Tour pro

Scottie Scheffler admitted it was 'concerning' to see a PGA Tour policy board member resign over the agreement with LIV Golf's backers as he slammed a report about fellow golfer Patrick Cantlay.

Scheffler is among a star-studded field playing the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.

It represents the final event Scheffler will play before heading south to tee it up at the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Scheffler joked in a news conference on 12 July it took far longer than expected to be asked about his putting woes in 2023.

Instead, unsurprisingly, Scheffler was quizzed about what he thought of two senior PGA Tour executives answering questions from US lawmakers about the 'framework agreement'.

More:

Said new company, named PGA Tour Enterprises, would likely have an initial investment of $1bn by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The PIF is LIV Golf's primary backer.

Scheffler said he watched the Senate hearing but didn't learn a whole lot.

He said:

"As a player on tour, we still don't really have a lot of clarity as to what's going on and that's a bit worrisome. They keep saying it's a player-run organisation, and we don't really have the information that we need. I watched part of yesterday and didn't learn anything. So I really don't know what to say."

Scheffler was asked if the players' meeting in Delaware before the FedEx Cup Playoffs was a waste of time in light of the agreement.

That meeting, last August, was spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and it resulted in the top players agreeing to play together more often.

Shortly after that the PGA Tour announced a raft of changes that emanated from the meeting at the height of their battle with LIV Golf.

So was it a waste of time? Scheffler argued:

"I don't think so at all. I think when the merger announcement, it may have felt like a waste of time but at the end of the day, I think it because good to get everybody together.

"I think that we are banded together as players and I think you saw the article that came out on Patrick a few weeks ago, and a lot of guys were posting on their social media and stuff like that because it was a ridiculous article."

Scheffler is talking about Patrick Cantlay. Golfweek's Eamon Lynch reported Cantlay was leading a 'coup d'état' against the framework agreement.

Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris were quick to condemn the report.

Scheffler said that he didn't believe he should have personally been briefed as the deal was being hatched in secret across a series of meetings across the globe.

| Documents suggest Rory McIlroy made an agreement with a Saudi governor during an in-person meeting in late 2022. pic.twitter.com/KIfuZfLR1z
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 12, 2023

"I'm sure that a few of our players members should probably have been involved," he said.

Before the Congressional hearing on 11 July, Randall Stephenson announced his resignation from the PGA Tour's policy board, citing 'serious concerns' with the agreement.

Stephenson contended he wished to resign immediately but waited after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stepped away from his day-to-day duties owing to an unexplained medical condition.

Monahan will return to work from 17 July.

Scheffler said:

"It was a little bit concerning that someone like him wouldn't be on board. We have players reps and we have other people that are on that advisory board, and any time we lose one of those members is definitely a bit concerning. Those guys are put in position for a reason, and for anyone to leave is tough for us. We'll see what happens."

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