“That decision may come with some sacrifice” – Adam Scott says LIV defectors knew the price of moving
Former Masters champion Adam Scott chose to stay on the PGA Tour despite his friends’ move to LIV Golf. The Australian golfer has now weighed in on the raging PGA Tour-LIV Golf debate and said that the defectors knew the ’risks' of moving to the rebel league.
Scott, who rarely gets involved in the LIV Golf debate, said that golfers moving to the Saudi-backed series made their decisions. Stating that these “decisions may come with some sacrifices”, the 42-year-old added that they were in no place to complain about missing major events.
Speaking about LIV golfers at the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii, Adam Scott said:
“They (LIV players) have made their decisions and some of those decisions — well, that decision may come with some sacrifice in the short or long-term.”
He added:
“In the short term, it was sacrificing the ability to have world ranking points. If they didn’t know that, then they’re realizing that’s the case at the moment.”
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Adam Scott, the oldest player in this week’s Sony Open field, weighed in on LIV Golf amid the raging debate on the same. Speaking just weeks after Augusta National announced its decision to allow LIV players at the 2023 Masters, Scott said that the defectors must be “okay” with the options they get.
Adam Scott on Cameron Smith potentially missing Paris Olympics
Adam Scott also raised concerns for his fellow Australian, Cameron Smith. Speaking about the golfer, Scott said that it would be “unfortunate” if the 29-year-old is deemed ineligible to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Considering that Olympic qualifications are made based on OWGR points, it’s most likely that Smith will miss the coveted event.
Speaking about Smith potentially missing out on the Olympics, Scott said:
“I think it would be unfortunate, yes, for Australia and their team. Cam also made these decisions, as did (Marc Leishman) and Matt Jones and any other Aussie who has gone on there. There may be some sacrifice… Seems like they’re OK with living with that, mostly. At least the Aussies seem that way.”
As of now, LIV Golf events are not awarded Official World Rankings points. Several golfers in the Saudi-backed series have already lost several places in the rankings already. Addressing the issue, Scott said that the world rankings is a “hard thing to get right” and added that the current system might be wrong.
Speaking about OWGR, Scott said:
“World rankings is a very, very hard thing to get right. I don’t think it’s correct… The weight at the top of the points I don’t think is enough. I beat about four people last week (at the Tournament of Champions), so I shouldn’t get a lot of points. But Jon Rahm beat a field of champion players on the PGA Tour and apparently the best 30 players on the tour for the year, so I think that’s worthy of some points.”
As LIV golfers continue to slide down the points table, it’ll be interesting to see if any of them will be eligible for Paris next year.