No. 1 Scheffler: 'I'm still here'

Texan does fine with or without LIV golfers in significant events; up to them to reunite

Scottie Scheffler had a lot to say about LIV’s place in the game and his successes (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

We are nearing the two-year anniversary of the infamous “framework agreement” forged in secrecy by the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. And there is still no end in sight.

A deal that was expected to be consummated in weeks — and certainly by the end of 2023 — labors on. Sure, there’s been lots of things happen but no resolution.

Jon Rahm went to LIV Golf and it expanded to 13 teams. Strategic Sports Group invested some $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises (with the promise of up to $1.5 billion more), none of that money yet spent.

The sides had on-again off-again negotiations. The president of the United States got involved. A deal seemed near until it didn’t.

And here we are.

All of which made someone wonder last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge if Scottie Scheffler’s amazing record over the past few years would be as good if there were no LIV Golf and thus more complete competition on the PGA Tour.

Certainly, it’s fair to wonder if he would have captured consecutive Players Championships. Or won four signature events in 2024.

But Scheffler beat LIV Golf players at each of three major championships he won, including the recent PGA Championship. He bet them at the Olympics last summer. You can only beat who you play.

And Scheffler, it seemed, was a bit miffed by the cast dispersions.

Now in his 104th consecutive week as the No. 1 player in the Official World Ranking — the third-longest streak behind two different runs by Tiger Woods — Scheffler was asked before the start at Colonial whether his achievements would be the same if the men’s professional game were not divided?

“Who knows? I only get to compete against those guys four times a year,” Scheffler said, referring to the LIV Golf players who no longer can play on the PGA Tour. “That was their choice, not mine.

“At the end of the day, I’m here competing and doing the best I can, and that kind of stuff, what’s the point of me thinking about it, you know? There’s really absolutely no point to that.

“We get four chances to compete against them. Last week (at the PGA) went well. I get another chance here in a few weeks.”

Scheffler — who tied for fourth Sunday, four shots back of winner Ben Griffin — won his third major championship by five shots at Quail Hollow, which happened to also be his 15th PGA Tour event before he turned 29. Only two other players won 15 tour events faster, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau tied for second while Jon Rahm, who was tied for the lead briefly on the back nine Sunday, finished in a tie for eighth along with fellow LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann.

They will all be together again next month at Oakmont, site of the U.S. Open, where DeChambeau defends his title. Rahm, who won the 2021 U.S. Open, as well as Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith and Phil Mickelson will be among the other major winners in the field.

As for any resolution to the talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which backs LIV Golf, Scheffler — like most outside the negotiation team — is unaware of where it is headed.

“That's for the higher-ups to decide,” he said. “I have said it a few times this year. If you want to figure out what’s going to happen in the game of golf, go to the other tour and ask those guys.

“I’m still here playing the PGA Tour. We had a tour where we all played together, and the guys that left, it’s their responsibility, I think, to bring the tours back together. Go see where they’re playing this week and ask them.”

Scheffler returns this week for another title defense at the Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus’ annual event that Rory McIlroy is skipping. It is the third time this year that the Masters champion is sitting out a signature event, the others being the season-opening Sentry and the RBC Heritage the week following his win at Augusta National.

While this will undoubtedly be cause for consternation among some — especially as McIlroy was behind the effort to establish the $20 million signature events and thus getting more money to the stars who in theory would play more often — there is also a bigger picture in play.

McIlory is playing next week’s RBC Canadian Open. You can bet that RBC is thrilled to have him at a national Open he has won twice. And McIlroy prefers to play the week prior to majors and is also expected to play the signature Travelers Championship the week after the U.S. Open. Playing four consecutive weeks at this point in the season is a big ask.

LIV Golf is off this week and doesn’t play again for two weeks when it has its eighth event of the season to be played outside of Washington, D.C., at the Ribert Trent Jones Golf Club the week before the U.S. Open.

Scheffler skipped the Truist, a signature event, in order to play both of his Texas events — the CJ Cup Byron Nelson (which he won) as well as at Colonial. McIlroy, who also played at Houston and New Orleans earlier this year, will be in Canada meaning a run of eight consecutive events in which the there was the No. 1 or No. 2 player (or both) in the field.

The PGA Tour is not going to be upset by that.