"There's another party they're negotiating with" - Adam Scott says it's "hard" to predict PGA Tour's future

PGA Tour Policy Board's Players Director Adam Scott recently commented on the future of the golf series amidst its ongoing negotiations with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF). PGA Tour has been in talks with PIF for a while, but the deal has not yet reached a conclusion. To facilitate negotiations, the parties have created a seven-member subcommittee.

Meanwhile, Adam Scott, who is preparing to tee off at this week's Charles Schwab Challenge starting on 23 May, spoke about the Tour's future at a press conference in response to a question seeking his views. The former World No. 1 offered (via Ten Golf on their YouTube channel):

"The hard part to answer that is I think the PGA Tour has a vision of what it wants to look like 12, 18 and then going forward five, 10, and 20 - or at least 10 years down the line and what it should evolve into. But at the moment there's another party that they're negotiating with that has to believe in that vision as well. [8:28]

And I don't know exactly what their vision is. So it's hard for me to answer that directly because I can't comment on the other side."

Notably, PGA Tour signed a deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG) earlier this year. They formed a new entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, and also released a Player Equity Program to recompense players who stay loyal to the Tour.

---

Adam Scott speaks on fellow player's struggle in game

Adam Scott also spoke about former Player Director Rory McIlroy at the press conference. The Northern Irish golfer was one of the six Player Directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board but resigned in November 2023 after the Tour decided to merge with PIF.

Earlier this year, McIlroy expressed his desire to return to the Policy Board but was snubbed by a few of the Player Directors and failed to make it. However, he is still heavily involved in the negotiations with PIF and is also one of the subcommittee members.

Recently, McIlroy spoke about the difficulties of focusing on his game amidst all the dynamics, and a reporter at the press conference asked Adam Scott about the same. In response, Scott said (via Golf Magic):

"Maybe I need to struggle a little more like Rory on the golf course. I would like to struggle like he does. (Laughing). If it's affecting his play, it's hard to see. He's played incredibly for a long, long time. Maybe he thought it held him back from some success. I don't know, I think we are probably at different stages of our careers and I don't think it has any impact on my play at all.

"It's all about -- I'm fully aware that where I need to put my time and at this point I have a little bit of time for dealing, being on the PGA TOUR board and I still think I have enough time to work on my game and other things in my life as well. So, but I understand everyone, if you asked me 10 years ago I probably wouldn't have been willing to give that time at that point, and so I can understand maybe Rory found that challenging."

Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott played at last week's Major, the 2024 PGA Championship, but Scott missed the cut while McIlroy tied for 12th place. McIlroy will not play at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge.