Adam Scott says he is open to playing a rival league to the PGA Tour after confirming he had been approached with a schedule of proposed events.
Speculation has been swirling about how many PGA Tour stars had been approached to join a proposed Super Golf League, which is being financed by the Public Investment Fund – the Saudi Arabia government’s investment arm.
The PIF has also funded LIV Golf Investments, a new company which has poured money into the Asian Tour and hired Greg Norman as its chief executive.
Reports have recently surfaced suggesting as many as 17 PGA Tour players had signed with the Saudi league and that those players had signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
PGA Tour players who jump ship risk being banned from the PGA Tour.
Details about the rumoured splinter tour are still scarce. But Scott said the schedule the group had pitched was appealing to an Australian professional golfer wanting to play a global tour.
Scott has previously expressed a desire to spend part of the year in Australia and part of it in his family’s home base in Switzerland, as long as he was still able to play the four Majors.
Having to play the majority of his schedule in the US makes that dream difficult for the 2013 Masters winner.
“I think the schedule they’re proposing is very appealing to probably most golfers, I would think,” Scott said at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera CC in Los Angeles, an event he won in 2020.
“Depending what your goals are in golf, I think the schedule is very appealing. From that side of things, I would consider doing that, for sure. From a lifestyle side of things, yes.”
Scott confirmed he had been approached by the Super Golf League.
“Yes, yeah, but like everyone else, we’re sworn to secrecy,” he said.
The source of funding for the Super Golf League has been shrouded in controversy, given Saudi Arabia has a record of human rights abuses.
Many call the Saudi government’s sponsoring of sporting events ‘sportswashing’, an attempt to improve its image through the power of sport.
Scott said he was sympathetic to that opinion, but pointed out golf was already benefitting – on multiple fronts – from having wealthy organisations wanting to invest in the game.
“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 that there’s interest and money coming into the sport,” he said.
“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.”
Scott said he hoped Australian golf would gain out of a rival league in the form of a major tournament with top players.
“Certainly I see having Greg Norman be the CEO of the company organising it, I’m hoping for some bias toward having a huge event in Australia,” Scott said.
“We’ve seen LIV Golf Investments commit a significant amount of money to the Asian Tour. So I see that as being a positive not just for the Asian players, but also for our region in Australia.”
