Sad news : (bombshell statement) Scottie Scheffler in tears as he announced his resignation after Tiger Woods threatening statement towards….. Full details below šš
Sad news : (bombshell statement) Scottie Scheffler in tears as he announced his resignation after Tiger Woods threatening statement towards….. Full details below šš
If golf fans are upset that the best players in the world arenāt playing in the same events such as this weekās Players Championship, world No. 1Ā Scottie SchefflerĀ said they need to turn their anger to the side that caused the sport to fracture.
āIf the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left,ā Scheffler said Tuesday. āWe had a tour, we were all together and the people that left are no longer here. At the end of the day, thatās where the splintering comes from.
āAs far as our tour goes, like I said, weāre doing our best to create the best product for the fans, and thatās really where weāre at.ā
While Scheffler will try to defend his title at the 50th Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, reigning Masters championĀ Jon RahmĀ and other past major champions likeĀ Brooks Koepka,Ā Dustin Johnson,Ā Cameron SmithĀ andĀ Bryson DeChambeauĀ arenāt in the field because theyāre playing in the rival LIV Golf League.
The PGA Tourās flagship event, known as the āfifth major,ā doesnāt boast the same deep field that it has in the past.
āIf guys want to go take the money and leave, then thatās their decision,ā Scheffler said. āIām not going to sit here and tell guys not to take hundreds of millions of dollars. If thatās what they think is best for their life, then go do it. Iām not going to sit here and force guys to stay on our tour.
āBut at the end of the day, this is where I want to be, and weāre continuing to grow what weāre doing, and what theyāre doing is not really a concern to me.ā
Earlier Tuesday, during his first news conference since the Tour Championship in Atlanta in August, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the circuitās negotiations with Saudi Arabiaās Public Investment Fund had āaccelerated.ā The sides are discussing a potential $3 billion investment from the sovereign wealth fund, which has financed LIV Golf the past three years.
Monahan and partners from Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire sports team owners that has already announced it will invest as much as $3 billion into the PGA Tour, met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in Saudi Arabia in January.
Monahan said the tour realizes that fans are ātired of hearing about conflict, money and who is getting what.ā
One of the next steps in a potential deal is Al-Rumayyan meeting with player directors on the PGA Tour policy board, includingĀ Tiger WoodsĀ andĀ Jordan Spieth. The player directors are also serving on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity created by the tour and SSG.
āI think itās really important that weāre all rowing in the same direction,ā saidĀ Patrick Cantlay, one of the player directors. āI think with this PGA Tour Enterprises board, I think itās really exciting that we do have a chance to kind of start with something new and all move together in the right direction.ā
During Monahanās news conference, a reporter asked if he believed he had the boardās full backing as he worked to move the deal with the Saudis forward. Monahan acknowledged that thereās been āa lot of good, spirited debate amongst our boardā about his future as commissioner.
āYou know, thatās a question that youāll have to ask for players,ā Monahan said. āI canāt generalize as it relates to players, but clearly given the responsibility Iāve been given by both boards, I have the support of our board, and I am the right person to lead us forward. I know that. I believe that in my heart, and Iām determined to do exactly that.ā
Xander Schauffele, the sixth-ranked golfer in the world, said he remains skeptical that Monahan is the right man to lead the tour. Schauffele has called for Monahanās resignation in the past.
āTrust is something thatās pretty tender, so words are words, and I would say in my book heās got a long way to go,ā Schauffele said. āIām sure heās got the support of the [player] board, since they were with him making some of those decisions, but for me personally heās got quite a ways to go.ā