In a striking social media post, Adam Scott has hit out at an opinion piece alleging a player coup led by Patrick Cantlay.
On Thursday, Australian golf star and 14-time PGA Tour winner Scott, took to social media to voice severe opposition to a biting column published on US website Golfweek earlier this week. In his article, golf writer Eamon Lynch wrote that world No.4 Cantlay had been trying to “rally players against” the PGA Tour’s framework deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), which finances LIV Golf. It also suggested PGA Tour pros held an overinflated sense of their own value.
Scott, 42, who this year was elected chairman on the Player Advisory Council, published the following written statement in his Instagram post. Fellow PGA pros Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris shared Scott’s post.
“Should articles like this form part of the debate? Putting aside personal barbs and fluffy adjectives would be helpful, dealing with facts presented with integrity far superior,” Scott wrote on his Instagram account. “Talk of a Cantlay coup d’etat – really? Perhaps some proof rather than faceless speculation.”
In the Golfweek article, Lynch suggested Cantlay and others would lose leverage over the PGA Tour.
Lynch wrote: “So the logic of Cantlay’s coup d’etat is that if LIV disappears as a threat – a likely occurrence under the deal – then players like him have no options, no leverage over the tour, and no prospects for the lucrative payday to which they feel entitled.”
Lynch also wrote: “Existing PGA Tour incentives won’t much benefit Cantlay. He won’t get rich from the Player Impact Program that bonuses stars on fan engagement since the only needle he moves is the [petrol] gauge on his car.”
Scott rejected those points, too. “Cheap shots at players “value of charisma”? The statement read.
On Friday, Lynch responded with another column. “I might even take on board some of the criticisms posted to social media Thursday, though not the monstrous cheap shot about my ‘fluffy adjectives’,” Lynch wrote. “But I write an opinion column, and those opinions don’t require the approval of professional golfers, some of whom seem discomfited by commentary that isn’t affirming and flattering.”
Lynch added further analysis to the PGA Tour-PIF agreement. “If the proposed deal is consummated, both sides get what they wanted. If it isn’t, the Saudis still get their wish list, but the PGA Tour does not. Its legal leverage has been withdrawn, the morality card can’t be played with a straight face, and a green light has been given for corporations and players to kick the tires on LIV for themselves. The Saudis can continue operating LIV if no deal is reached, in which case more top players might opt to jump. In short, the PGA Tour will be worryingly dependent on Saudi good faith in negotiations.”
