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The defending champion of the Genesis Scottish Open, American Xander Schauffele, gave remarks to the press on Wednesday from the Renaissance Club venue of the event.
Schauffele shared with reporters some thoughts on the PIF/PGA Tour agreement and recalled how he learned about it.
Xander Schauffele said, when asked by one of the journalists, that the first person to tell him about the agreement was his wife since he was asleep when the information was disclosed.
Xander Schauffele was quoted as saying by the DP World Tour news service:
“My wife woke me up. I was lying in bed with my French bulldog. We were having a nice little canoodling session and my wife woke me up in a pitch black room and informed me of the news.”
He added:
"I asked my wife to sort of tell me what where the news was coming from, what source it was ... and then my phone just started going off."
Schauffele also answered questions about the deal in a general sense, following Tuesday's Senate Subcommittee on Investigations hearing in which two senior PGA Tour officials testified. He was measured on the subject, though critical in some respects.
"The guy who was supposed to be there for us wasn't. Obviously, he had some health issues, so I'm glad we got the memo, I'm glad that he said he's feeling much better," Xander Schauffele said.
"I'd say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return. I don't trust people easily, he had my trust and he has a lot less of it now. I don't stand alone when I say that and he'll just have to answer a lot of really hard questions when he comes back," he added.
Other issues raised by Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele added that he has similar feelings for other players regarding the misinformation and lack of communication that has existed regarding the whole issue between the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia and the PGA Tour.
However, he made it clear that he is confident that the players will be able to stay out of any trouble if they are able to remain united:
"It's hard for me to comment on everything that occurred, because I don't really know a lot about of what was talked about and what happened, but just in on a general point, the uncertainty that is around the future of men's professional golf right now is that unsettling," Schauffele said.
"I think if players can stay together sort of stay unified and have the right goals in place for the future, then it would be less unsettling. I say, for the most part, most of the players on the PGA tour are together, want to be informed and want to have a say," he added.
Xander Schauffele has participated in two editions of the Scottish Open, with excellent performances in both.
In 2021 he finished T10, while he was champion in 2022, with a score of 7-under 273.
