Adam Scott confirmed what has widely been reported: there’s little movement in efforts to reunify men’s professional golf.
As a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board, Scott has had a front row seat in the negotiations between the Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf. Scott participated in the talks earlier this year, which were orchestrated by U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House.
Asked on Wednesday for a status report during a pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, Scott said, “there’s not much happening between, I don’t know if more White House visits are really necessary. It was really quite an experience, I have to say. Those conversations haven’t advanced far from there.”
Optimism was high that a deal was forthcoming earlier in the year but the last meeting in February in which PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Scott and Tiger Woods met with President Trump and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan did not go as planned.
The goal of the meeting was to expedite the federal government’s approval of a deal, originally outlined in a Framework Agreement in June 2023, which would see PIF invest $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, the Tour’s new, for-profit entity.
With talks hitting a road block, Scott suggested that new Tour Enterprises CEO Brian Rolapp, who started his job on Monday, will be responsible for leading the process forward as Monahan, who announced he intended to complete his contract through 2026 as commissioner, hands off the baton.
“With Brian stepping in, a lot of that’s going to fall onto his desk now. I think that he needs some time to kind of really get up to speed and understand what’s going on with that,” Scott said.
The Aussie also served on the search committee that eventually selected Rolapp, a highly-respected executive for more than 20 years at the NFL, to steer the Tour through these turbulent times.
“His credentials are obviously excellent on paper, but I have a few things that I really liked about Brian,” Scott said. “He has a very calm nature about him, you know, to me, which was one of the guys involved, I thought I quite liked that. I think he’s coming in at a very interesting time in the professional game and I think that calm demeanor’s going to serve him well.”
Scott’s words confirm the rumors that negotiations have stalled with both sides entrenched in their corners and neither willing to compromise. At No. 85 in the FedEx Cup standings, Scott has more pressing concerns this week – trying to earn his way into the playoffs at the final regular-season event.
“It’s do or die,” Scott said. “That’s a fun way to play. Sometimes we or I have fell in the trap of like there’s always next week if it doesn’t work out and that’s not the case here, so I think that’s not a pressure but more motivation.”
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