A handful of players stepped into the press center at the Genesis Invitational over the last few days and talked about their commitment to the PGA Tour, rebuking the Saudi-backed Super Golf League.
Adam Scott? He discussed some of the league’s potential positives.
“Depending what your goals are in golf, I think the schedule is very appealing,” Scott said on Wednesday. “From that side of things, I would consider doing that, for sure. From a lifestyle side of things, yes.”
Pressed on it again later, Scott continued.
“Well, when there’s only a proposed 14 events, let’s say, and you might pick to play some other events, there seems to be time for a legitimate offseason. I think that’s really missed on the PGA Tour from all aspects but certainly from the top players,” he said. “I think we would all like to see a break, and a break where you’re not penalized for taking a break. I think that’s one of the big things.”
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Scott’s comments at Riviera were quite different from what other stars said during the week. While they made headlines for quips like “not so Super League,” as Rory McIlroy put it, Scott admitted he had discussions with the league, adding “but like everyone else, we’re sworn to secrecy.”
PGA Tour player Kramer Hickok recently said 17 players had already signed on for the league. None of those names, however, have yet to become public.
“[The PGA Tour is] trying to be all things to many people and that’s a very difficult thing to do,” Scott said. “A player over here has a different priority or agenda with the Tour than the player over here. So I think it’s difficult. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s been around for a long time now. I think it’s certainly been a distraction at times I think for some players. It looks like it’s going to be around for at least the rest of this year the way things are going, so we’ll see what happens and who takes the step.”
As for the source of the league’s money, which many have raised their concerns about?
“I think it’s a bigger discussion than just a quick quote from me up here, to be honest,” Scott said. “You know, I can understand obviously that angle, you know. I think you can argue both sides of lots of things, but at the end of the day I think my general feeling on this at the moment is that it’s only a positive thing for professional golfers at the moment that there’s interest and money coming into the sport, and it’s also somewhat forced the PGA Tour to put more money into the professional golfers and we’re seeing that all around the world, too. They’ve put money into the European Tour. The LIV Golf Investments has put money into the Asian Tour. So at the moment that’s good for strengthening the professional game. How everything else pans out, I don’t know, but at the moment I think it’s good that these things are happening for golf professionals.”
