ATLANTA — The PGA Tour wraps up its FedEx Cup season in late August for a reason—namely to avoid going up against the NFL. Sure, there is a slate of fall events, but most of the top players tend to take off most if not all those tournaments. That makes the year’s final four months ripe for other options, including a possible international series that would bring together top players via a merger of the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League.
No one knows if that’s a serious proposal on the table as the tour continues its negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which underwrites LIV Golf; the two sides have been mum on their discussions. But if Xander Schauffele’s feelings about such an initiative are representative of his peers overall, it’s a nonstarter.
“Right now, it sounds terrible,” Schauffele said Tuesday at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. “My brother's bachelor party next week sounds terrible, too. I'm in a place where I'm trying to get over this finish line and play some really good golf coming in so I can enjoy myself.”
Both Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, the only man ahead of Xander in the World Ranking, alluded to the fatigue setting in as the long season concludes this week. They are looking forward to a chunk of time off before the season begins again in January in Hawaii. Schauffele couldn’t see where more golf might fit into those later months.
“I haven't really put a whole lot of thought about how I'd feel trying to tee up in a series overseas in November or December, or October even. I'm going to go overseas to Japan to play the Zozo [in late October],” said Schauffele, whose mother grew up in Japan. “That's the only event I'm going to play this offseason, or I guess this fall season. … I'm excited for my trip to Japan. I always am. It's a warm and fuzzy place for me.
“But to tack on multiple events would probably be tough.”