Xander Schauffele has revealed what happened after he met with representatives of LIV Golf in Saudi Arabia as he insisted that he has no intention to leave the PGA Tour.
Xander Schauffele is one of the biggest names who has not made the jump to LIV Golf since the breakaway tour was founded.
The move to sign Jon Rahm ahead of this season shows that it remains almost impossible to know what the sport’s future holds. There were even reports earlier this year Rory McIlroy was closing in on agreeing a deal with LIV Golf.
So it hardly helps slow down the rumour mill when players say little about LIV, with Schauffele one of the big names who does not take every opportunity to deny interest in going.
Xander Schauffele reveals he held talks with LIV representatives
As it turns out, the 2024 PGA Champion has met with the representatives behind the tour. But, as he told The Times, Schauffele has no plans to leave the PGA Tour anytime soon.
“It’s funny, my friends used to send me screenshots of me as the favourite to join LIV, and the odds were solely based on me not commenting much, but actions speak louder than words,” he said.
“I’ve shown up to play PGA Tour events week in, week out. I love my job, this is where I’m at, and I don’t really see myself going anywhere else. I had to at least sit down and listen to what was being offered, but once I realised it wasn’t really going to fit in with how I envisioned my career, it just fizzled out.”
PGA Tour must not test players’ loyalty with LIV threat not going anywhere
It will be comforting for supporters of the PGA Tour that Schauffele has no plans to go, particularly as he has met with LIV, so he has a good idea of what is on the table.
Having said that, Rahm’s defection makes it so difficult to look too far down the line. Rahm seemed to be pretty clear that he did not see the benefit of moving to LIV, but is now one of the tour’s biggest names.
The truth is the PGA Tour cannot take players’ loyalty for granted and assume that they will always be happy to stay just because they are right now.
LIV is not going away anytime soon, and, whether you like the tour or not, they have made changes to the game which have attracted fans. And they certainly have the financial power to keep making the world’s best players the kind of offers they would be mad not to consider.
Schauffele is clearly in a place in his career right now where he has little desire to leave the PGA Tour. But the tour cannot become complacent.
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