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While speaking during an exclusive, Schauffele let his mistrust be known with PGA Tour leadership amid the Saudi PIF deal.
PGA Tour professional Xander Schauffele has repeatedly been outspoken regarding the multi-million dollar offers LIV Golf sent his way. He has no reservations about his decision to remain with the PGA Tour.
However, that doesn’t mean he is happy with the tour’s leadership under Commissioner Jay Monahan.
Schauffele made it known that he wants to see a change in an exclusive interview with Today’s Golfer.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing some new leadership take place on our circuit,” Schauffele said. “I would be lying if I said that I have a whole lot of trust after what happened. That’s definitely the consensus that I get when I talk to a lot of guys. It’s a bit contradictory when they call it ‘our Tour’ and things can happen without us even knowing.”
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Schauffele, along with a number of stars on the PGA Tour, previously expressed their displeasure with being left in the dark after the groundbreaking deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) was revealed.
“It’s hard. I’m sure there are reasons for what happened, but at the same time, it puts us in a really hard spot to trust the leadership that did some stuff in the dark and is supposed to have our best interests at heart. It’s a bit sicky, and I am a bit in the dark still. I hate to sit here and hope for the best.”
The tour, which is supposedly a player-run organization, left its players out of the loop. Scottie Scheffler pointed to the lack of transparency earlier this summer.
The rift between players and leadership culminated in Tiger Woods being added to the Player Advisory Board, giving players an equal say. In an interesting twist though, fellow star on tour, Rory McIlroy, recently announced his resignation from the board.
The Tour’s framework deal with the Saudi PIF is still yet to materialize. Initially, a deadline for the end of 2023 was agreed upon, but recent developments point to it requiring more time.
Nevertheless, players like Schauffele clearly have not moved past being deceived by leadership.
For more on the stunning PGA Tour-LIV Golf developments and everything else golf-related, be sure to check out SB Nation’s Playing Through.
