Scottie Scheffler details the ‘end goal’ of PGA X LIV Showdown
Scottie Scheffler is all set to take on LIV Golf rivals Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in The Showdown alongside Rory McIlroy. The PGA X LIV event, promoted by Crypto.com, will be played on Tuesday, December 17 at the ultra-exclusive Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibition contest will see the four pro golfers take on each other in an 18-hole match under the lights.
Ahead of the made-for TV match, Scheffler has come out to state that they are doing the contest for the fans. The reigning Masters champion, while speaking in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, addressed the PGA vs LIV rift and said he’d want “everybody back together.” The World No.1 stated that the ‘end goal’ of such contests is to “get the game of golf back together.”
Scheffler, who was named PGA Tour Player of the Year for the third straight year this week, hinted at missing the ‘competition’ he had with some of the biggest names in golf after they moved to the Saudi-backed series.
Scottie Scheffler said, as quoted by Sports Illustrated:
“I think we’d love to see everybody back together. What I love most is the competition. All this talk about LIV and PGA Tour and money… I think most of us just want to get back to the competition.
To have an event where we’re playing against each other, we don’t get to do that often. It’ll be fun to get together and compete. After Brooks and Bryson left, we only play (against them) four times a year. I think we need to start focusing on the competition aspect of it… Ideally, I think the end goal here is to get the game of golf back together.”
Scheffler’s comment came after Rory McIlroy lauded the event. The Northern Irishman, speaking in the same call with the Masters champion, claimed that players want to resolve the PGA Tour-LIV Golf rift and ‘play together more often.’ The PGA Tour Policy Board member said The Showdown was to show their efforts at ‘unifying golf’ to the fans.
When Scottie Scheffler admitted feeling ‘strange’ about LIV Golf
Scottie Scheffler was not always fully in agreement with the introduction of LIV Golf. Much like many of his peers, including The Showdown teammate Rory McIlroy, the World No.1 had his differences in opinion with the Saudi-backed series. Earlier in 2023, the ace golfer stated there is a “strange” feel to life on the PGA Tour ever after LIV Golf’s inception.
The reigning Masters champion admitted that LIV's emergence generated some landscape-altering changes in the game, including the massive changes in events’ fields. He confessed to not seeing many of his former PGA Tour ‘friends’ after they switched sides.
Speaking at the Tournament of Champions 2023, Scottie Scheffler said:
“I haven't seen many of the LIV guys. I saw Bubba (Watson) on vacation this year, and I told him that I was just going to have a separate table for him in the corner by himself (laughing) only kidding, obviously…
In the world of golf, I think it's definitely a little sad what's happening. It's kind of weird this week. I get to my locker, and my locker's next to Cam Smith's locker, because he's a past champ here, and he's not here. So, it's a little strange, but golf will move on. I think this stuff just takes time. Things will heal and we'll see what happens.”
Notably, Scottie Scheffler also reiterated that he wasn’t planning on moving to LIV Golf like many of his peers at the time. He had even stated that the players’ interaction at events like the Masters would be awkward.