Scottie Scheffler opens up on Jon Rahm's LIV move: "Surprised he took the money"
World number one Scottie Scheffler has admitted he is still surprised Jon Rahm decided to take the money and join the lucrative LIV Golf League.
World number one Scottie Scheffler has admitted he is still surprised Jon Rahm decided to join LIV Golf.
Scheffler was speaking ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.
On paper, the American hasn't had a disastrous start to the calendar year as he has posted four top-10 finishes in five events.
But for the 27-year-old it's more a story of what could have been had it not been for his disastrous performances with the putter.
At Bay Hill this week, Scheffler appears to have finally taken on board Rory McIlroy's advice to try something new.
In years past, Scheffler would have been battling Rahm for the title but the Spaniard is in Hong Kong with LIV Golf after his $500m switch.
"To be completely honest, Jon was one of my favourite people to play against," he told Sky Sports.
"We had some good battles throughout the years and I was pretty surprised that he decided to take the money and leave.
"I've got a lot of good friends over there. Brooks left, DJ left and I definitely miss seeing a lot of those guys.
"They were a big part of my life out here on tour and it's still a bit weird that they're not around.
"We'll see what happens in the future, but I definitely miss competing against some of those guys.
"It's one of those deals, it's just kind of a strange time in the game of golf.
"A lot of the guys that left early were a bit in the later years of their career and they made their decisions, but I have no ill feelings towards any of the guys. We're just in a weird state of the game."
For his part Rahm has stated repeatedly he has no intentions of resigning from the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.
In an ideal world the reigning Masters champion would play a full LIV schedule, the Spanish Open and sprinkle in select PGA Tour events plus the majors.
Whether that comes to pass remains up in the air.
Just this week the newly-formed PGA Tour Enterprises, backed by billions of U.S. private equity money, unveiled its board of directors.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is on the board. So is Tiger Woods.
LIV Golf's mastermind, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, was expected to have an influential position with PGA Tour Enterprises, per the terms of the 6 June framework agreement.
But his name was not mentioned.
In other words, it looks as though the PGA Tour may be lining themselves up to go it alone without Saudi money.
A number of high-profile players, such as Jordan Spieth, have stated that PGA Tour Enterprises may not need investment from the PIF.
Scheffler is open to the idea of unification down the line, but he believes that LIV players shouldn't be able to return to the Tour without 'some sort of caveat'.
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