Here's to hoping good guy Scottie Scheffler continues snubbing LIV tour | Loran Smith

AUGUSTA — Scottie Scheffler represents a lot of what most of us like. He is a champion who has manners, taste, and fire in the belly. He likes to win because he is a competitor, but one underscores class and goodwill. He is a good neighbor type, who would lend a helping hand.

We don’t see him listening to a pitch from Greg Norman although we never know about one’s decision making when the money gets stacked higher and higher.

You have to think that he would have caused the great Bobby Jones to show him deep and abiding respect and more than a modicum of reverence.

Jones, from the very beginning of the Masters, wanted the tournament to reflect both an amateur and international flavor, traditions which remain a staple of the annual event today.

Jones’ closest friends say that he had a dream that Jack Nicklaus might have considered a career as a golfing amateur, but while Jack had the greatest of respect for Jones, that did not make sense for him. He had the gifts to dominate the PGA tour and he obviously made the right decision when he decided to turn pro.

Not sure what Jones would say about the LIV tour, but those who know anything about him, likely would expect the great champion to throw up at the idea of a golf tournament with a 54-hole format with the competitors playing in shorts.

As it is in everything today, it is all about the money which is why I don’t care for the LIV tour no matter what its proponents tout. What could they possible do for the good of the game?

Finishing in the money has always been a way of life with golf. Golfers have traditionally been independent contractors. If you play well, you do well financially which is why in the old days the players respected the guy who found a way to collect a check at the conclusion of a tournament.

Then came the senior tour, which was a godsend for the old guys, especially those whose health enhanced opportunity. You can remember that the rookies on the senior circuit seemed to win almost every week. That five-year window when they first joined the tour can be remarkably productive financially.

That wasn’t good enough for Greg Norman who wanted to take the game globally. When that didn’t work out, he found the Saudi pot of gold, and we learned that the players whose games were fading jumped at the money. Would it be reasonable to argue that there was an easy street circumstance involved? If you guarantee someone big money on the front end, wouldn’t it be human nature to throttle back? Work less hard. You might say no to the LIV concept, but if they keep stacking cash higher and higher—at some point you feel justified in changing your mind. Seems to be the way it was with Jon Rahm.

Guaranteed money has changed the minds of many players, but there are still significant pay days on the PGA tour. In Scheffler’s case, last Sunday his week’s work totaled $3.6 million, even though the Masters is an invitational tournament and can set its own rules.

In addition to the money, the rewards of winning a major are limitless. However, when your game goes to seed, and it will for many golfers after they turn 40, then you compromise your thinking.

Remember when professional golfers were eager to play in corporate outings on Mondays? It was a relaxed environment, and you might make as much as $25,000 to play with customers and guests—in some cases, depending on your reputation and star power, it could be a lot more and no heavy lifting.

The purses are so big now that a successful player can stay home on Monday and spend time with his family or work on his game or go fishing. I’m not sure if there is a corporate outing out there now.

Already, Sheffler’s career earnings are more than $82 million dollars. Maybe life on the PGA Tour will be good enough for him as he seeks to win more major titles.

Let’s hope this All-American boy will thumb his nose at the Saudi’s. Here’s hoping that the waving of the U.S. flag will mean enough to him to embrace the PGA tour as he has done so well in the initial stages of his career.

Loran Smith is a constant contributor to the Athens Banner-Herald.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Scottie Scheffler must continue snubbing the LIV Golf Tour: Loran Smith