Scottie Scheffler struggles to hide frustration as LIV Golf divide continues to take its toll

Ahead of his Masters title defense, Scottie Scheffler has named one LIV golfer in particular that he is looking forward to going up against.

Of all the irksome aspects that have come with the advent of LIV Golf – and there are so many that there have been countless column inches and several books already dedicated to the topic – this is one of the most frustrating. Scottie Scheffler, it seems, is as fed up as the rest of us.    

The Masters champion was speaking to the world’s media during a conference call ahead of his title defense at Augusta – which has now unofficially become the place where players from both tours come together for the first time each year – when he was once again asked about the divide.

His answer started somewhat diplomatically.

“I definitely miss the competition,” he said. “They’ve got some pretty good players on their tour.

“I still think the PGA Tour has by far the best players in the world. The depth of our fields and the competition that we have is still hands down the best competition that there is in the game of golf.

“That’s why I’m still playing on the Tour. I love the competition.”

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Then he seemed to ease into proceedings and became more comfortable to let his feelings known a little more.

“I wish some of those guys had stayed,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, they made their choice.

“They knew the consequences of that decision, and I’m not here to change their minds. I hold no ill will toward any of those guys that left.

“They did what they wanted to do, and I can’t control their life. I’m not going to sit here and say they should have done something differently. They made their choice.”

Then Scheffler pivoted fully into frustration mode with the air of a man tired of being asked the same thing over and over.

“If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys,” he said. “Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together.”

Understandable, given how long this has been going on. Indeed, the comment was more than 12 months on from being asked the same question at last year’s Players Championship.

“If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left,” he said at the time.

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There is one player who Scheffler really misses, though – the man with whom he has traded the Green Jacket for the past three years, as well as gone up against in the singles matches of the last two Ryder Cups.

Jon Rahm’s move to LIV was arguably the most shocking, given he was not only tussling with Scheffler to be the world’s best player but the fact he had openly dismissed the breakaway league for a variety of reasons.

“One of the great joys of my career is going up against Jon,” Scheffler explained. “He’s a tremendous player, tremendous talent. I was definitely surprised to see him leave last year and I for sure miss playing against him. We had some great battles over the years. We had some great battles in the Ryder Cup.

“He’s a great guy to compete against. So, I definitely miss playing against him. I wish we got to do it more often, but I definitely will soak in all the opportunities that I get to compete against him going forward.”

The first of those will be in just three weeks. After he seemed to struggle with being under the spotlight last year, Rahm will want to give Scheffler something to think about. And no one will be happier about that than the World No.1.

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