The Saudi-backed splinter league’s “back to the drawing board” stage isn’t even a week old and others are piling on the PGA Tour bandwagon as the circuit’s flagship event approaches in two week’s time.
Apropos of seemingly nothing, Xander Schauffele released an oddly-worded statement that instead of simply saying he’s sticking with the PGA Tour, he admitted to consulting with the Saudis before ultimately deciding their plan wasn’t ready yet.
- “My team had been instructed to do due diligence on this matter, thus we have met and discussed with representatives of the SGL/LIV, only to come to the conclusion that the SGL isn’t close to a finished product or business model.”
— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) February 23, 2022
Jack Nicklaus was a little more emphatic
Interestingly throughout this entire ordeal, the elder statesmen of the game have been left out of the conversation despite having successfully endured something similar in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the creation of the PGA Tour as we know it today.
.@jacknicklaus weighs in on Saudi backed league while @XSchauffele pledges his allegiance to …. https://t.co/5uAdgsa7W4
— Steve DiMeglio (@Steve_DiMeglio) February 24, 2022
With the Honda Classic in his backyard, a catalyst of that PGA of America to PGA Tour change from 50 years ago, Jack Nicklaus, weighed in.
“(The PGA Tour’s) brought millions and millions of dollars to communities, it’s brought great competition, great television,” Nicklaus said. “Why would I not support that? Instead, I’m going to go support for my own benefit, see 40 guys break away from the PGA Tour at the whim of an advertising agency in Saudi Arabia? What happens to the other guys? I just don’t like it. I don’t think it’s right.”
