HONOLULU (AP) — Adam Scott has no shortage of opinions on the state of the PGA Tour. Two decades into his career, he decided this was a good time to make sure they were heard.
Scott is among 16 players appointed to the Player Advisory Council for 2023. The PAC is the first step toward consulting the PGA Tour board and the commissioner on issues affecting the tour, and there are plenty.
This year is seen as a bridge to reach radical changes in store for a PGA Tour that faces the greatest challenge in its history from the deep pockets of Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Scott, the first Masters champion from Australia, was perceived as a likely candidate to join LIV Golf when it started because he plays such a limited schedule. He never expressed interest, however, even though he has remained even-handed in his outlook on what each league offers.
But he said joining the PAC for the first time at age 42 was more about the changes ahead for the PGA Tour than anything going on with LIV. Scott has said it’s best for each league to do its own thing.
“I’m more interested in what the tour is planning on doing with the tour, not how we’re fighting a lawsuit, because I couldn’t care less about that,” Scott said Friday at the Sony Open. “I’m more interested in what the future of the tour looks like.
“And I think I convinced myself that it was worth diving into that.”
Scott said he was a little inspired by how Rory McIlroy has taken on a leadership role in carving out a new path, with his comments and helping to organize the player-only meeting during the BMW Championship last August.
“I feel potentially like a few other notable players — if I can call myself a notable player — could assist him in moving things in the direction that seems to be correct,” Scott said.
“It’s an important time for our tour to map out the next decade and beyond for what playing the PGA Tour is working toward, and what that looks like,” he said “It’s just a time of change. Big decisions are going to be made. They need to be the right ones.”
The tour has not announced the rest of the PAC. After that, players elect a chairman who would eventually become a player director on the PGA Tour board.
“There’s smart people running the tour. I’m not thinking I’m taking Jay’s job,” Scott said with a laugh, referring to Commissioner Jay Monahan. “But I don’t mind stirring the pot if it needs to be stirred in conversation in those kind of rooms, just to let everyone think more. Sometimes I feel like we get pretty reactive to things these days. It’s nice to think down the line a little bit.”
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