(Reuters) – Olympic champion Xander Schauffele has become the latest high-profile player to commit to the American-based PGA Tour, saying the proposed Saudi-funded breakaway league is not close to a “finished product”.
Four-times major champion Brooks Koepka, former world number one Dustin Johnson and several other top players have turned down the Super Golf League (SGL) project.
Former world number one Greg Norman is spearheading the SGL as chief executive officer of LIV Golf Investments, which is backed by the Saudi Investment Fund.
Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, world number one Jon Rahm and No. 2 Collin Morikawa are among other high-profile golfers who have expressed their PGA Tour allegiance.
“At no point have I taken any action or made statements to suggest that I would entertain the SGL as an alternative to the PGA Tour,” Schauffele tweeted on Wednesday.
“My team had been instructed to do due diligence on this matter, thus we have met and discussed with representatives of the SGL/LIV, only to come to the conclusion that the SGL isn’t close to a finished product or business model.
“My allegiance to the PGA Tour, my belief in positive changes at the verge of being implemented at the PGA Tour, in particular when it comes to shared intellectual property rights, sizes of purses and overall transparency, never wavered.”
Players who sign up for the breakaway competition face potential bans from the PGA Tour and European-based DP World Tour, as well as the Ryder Cup.
No golfers have publicly signed up for the proposed rival league, which is trying to lure top players away from the PGA Tour with the promise of huge paydays.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
