“I'm not going to play here forever” – Xander Schauffele reacts to being linked with LIV Golf rumors
Xander Schauffele is one of the names linked to LIV Golf ever since its inception. The rumors linking the World No. 5 golfer to the breakaway tour re-appeared recently after Jon Rahm jumped ships. Schauffele was speculated to join the Masters champion’s new team. However, the 30-year-old shot it down by commuting to the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Now, Schauffele has come out to reveal that it’s “funny” how the media keeps linking him to LIV Golf. Interestingly, the golfer said that he’ll never ‘pledge’ his allegiance to any side.
Speaking in the latest episode of the Fore Play podcast, the 2019 Masters champion said that he’s not like others who strongly sided with either PGA or LIV.
Schauffele said that he isn’t going to play in one tour forever. The golfer concluded by stating that he is currently staying on the PGA Tour.
Replying to a query on why his name keeps popping up with LIV rumors, Xander Schauffele said in the aforementioned podcast:
“It's funny that when I was asked about it (by the media), I feel like I've just tried to be as honest as possible. And I just dodge the question. Because I'm not going to pledge. I'm not like the only guy, like there's maybe a handful of guys who've done this.
"But I'm not going to play here forever and I'm not saying I'm going to go there forever. I just say, I'm here right now. Which is just a fact."
Xander Schauffele says he is excited for the 2024 PGA Tour season
Schauffele started off the 2024 PGA Tour season with a T10 finish at The Sentry. He followed it up with a third-place finish at the American Express last week.
Following this, the 30-year-old came out to state that he’s excited for the upcoming events he’s signed up for. The golfer, who is the favorite to win the ongoing Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, said that he has high hopes for the Major championships as well.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open, Xander Schauffele said:
"I'm honestly pretty excited to play all the tournaments I signed up for. I don't think I would play a tournament if I wasn't excited for it. I was a bit on the fence on this event just because it'd be five weeks in a row but I told myself that I'd be pretty bummed out if I was practicing 10 minutes away from here while this event was going on watch watching leaderboard watching while not playing."
Furthermore, he also revealed his wish to defend the Olympic gold medal.
He said:
"So, I'm pretty much excited for all events, Olympics especially. It's definitely up there on my list of goals, just to get back to and compete in. It's very difficult being an American and trying to qualify for that team."
With reports of Adrian Meronk and Tyrrell Hatton joining LIV Golf, it’ll be interesting to see if Xander Schauffele makes any shock moves in the future.