Xander Schauffele is undoubtedly one of the PGA Tour’s premier players.
Schauffele’s somewhat worrying form on the PGA Tour and the majors so far this season has seen him fail to rack up a victory in 2025.
However, there is a very good reason why he hasn’t got over the line yet this year.
Schauffele – the number three ranked player in the world right now – suffered an injury earlier on in the year.
And it took time for him to feel completely comfortable swinging a club again.
The 31-year-old remains a blockbuster draw for the PGA Tour, and the fact that he turned down a move to LIV Golf was hugely important for them.
What Xander Schauffele’s father said about LIV Golf and the PGA Tour
Many players are still pushing for a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV.
However, in order for it to happen, the general consensus is that the Saudi-backed golf league needs more bargaining chips.
Poaching one of the PGA Tour’s best players and biggest stars would certainly give them that.
Last month, Schauffele’s father, Stefan, sat down for an exclusive interview with The Times newspaper in the UK.
He made a series of bullish remarks about his son and the current goings-on in the professional game.
However, one comment in particular stood out.
The Times explained: “Schauffele senior confirmed LIV Golf offered his son more than $150m to join the PIF-backed breakaway. LIV could have doubled that figure and the answer would have still been ‘no’, he said. The lack of world ranking points and being potentially frozen out of the major championships wasn’t worth it.“
$150 million is an awful lot of money to turn down, so if small changes are made, a compromise between LIV and Schauffele could well be reached one day.
And one of the big obstacles between the two-time major champion jumping ship to LIV may well be about to disappear.
Why the PGA Tour should be worried about Schauffele if LIV get good news
So judging by the comments from the 31-year-old’s father, it seems like a lack of world ranking points on LIV was the main reason behind him turning down the $150 million contract offer.
However, that could all be set to change very quickly indeed.
That’s because LIV submitted a fresh application for world ranking points just last week.
And if LIV Golf league receive a positive response from the OWGR, panic could set in at the PGA Tour headquarters.
Armed with the knowledge about Schauffele’s reason behind his decision to reject LIV’s advances, the Saudi-backed golf league would surely return with a new offer for the American PGA Tour star.
He has never come out and officially criticised LIV Golf, like some other players on the PGA Tour have done in the past.
Whether official ranking points will be awarded to LIV remains to be seen, and the PGA Tour will be praying that their rivals get bad news in that regard.
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