LIV Players Have To Accept There Are Sacrifices - Adam Scott

Adam Scott has explained that LIV Golf players who miss out on tournaments because of issues with their world ranking have to accept the situation. 

LIV Golf players know more than most the impact of not having a regular schedule of OWGR tournaments to draw from. However, as well as issues including eligibility for Majors in doubt, another consideration is Olympic qualification. Even World No.3 Cameron Smith could miss out on the Australian Olympic team for next year's Games in Paris if his OWGR slips too far, but that’s something his compatriot Adam Scott thinks he should be aware of, even though it would be unfortunate for him and the team.

Scott, who is preparing to play in the Sony Open in Hawaii, said: “I think it would be unfortunate. However, again, like everyone said, they’ve made their decisions, and some of those decisions - well, that decision may come with some sacrifice in the short or long term. In the short term, it was sacrificing the ability to have world ranking points. If they didn’t know that, then they’re realising that’s the case at the moment. So I think it would be unfortunate, yes, for Australia and their team.”

Scott appears to have weighed up the pros and cons of joining LIV Golf for many months. Almost a year ago, he admitted the schedule is very appealing, and then declared it was not pure evil as recently as September. He has since said he harbours ambitions of winning more Majors, which appears to have left him focused on his PGA Tour career, at least for the time being.

According to Scott, though, his compatriots who have left for LIV Golf seem to have been more emphatic on their reasons for joining – regardless of where it left their eligibility for other tournaments. He said: “Cam also made these decisions as did Leish [Marc Leishman] and Matt Jones and any other Aussie who has gone on there. There may be some sacrifice. Seems like they’re OK with living with that mostly, at least the Aussies seem that way."

Smith and Leishman were in the Australian Olympic team for the 2020 Tokyo Games. However, the men’s team finished well outside of the medals reckoning, with Xander Schauffele claiming gold for the USA.