Xander Schauffele Hilariously Describes How He Found Out About the PGA-LIV Merger

Schauffele was “canoodling” his dog when the stunning LIV Golf/PGA Tour alliance was announced.

When the news of the PGA Tour’s proposed alliance with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (the backer of LIV Golf) was officially announced, almost no PGA Tour players had prior knowledge of the deal. 

Even most of the top players in the world, including Scottish Open defending champion Xander Schauffele, found out like the rest of us: through articles, social media posts and even messages from friends and family. 

So, in light of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate hearing about the alliance, Schauffele was asked if he remembered where he was when he was first alerted of the news.

It turned out that the seven-time PGA Tour winner could perfectly recall how he found out about the stunning deal, as the announcement derailed his comfortable morning at home. 

“My wife woke me up,” Schauffele said, speaking during a pre-tournament press conference for the Scottish Open. “I was laying in bed with my French bulldog. We were having a nice little canoodling session, and yeah, my wife woke me up in a pitch black room and informed me of the news.” 

That’s right, Schauffele was “canoodling” his dog when he learned about some of the most shocking news in golf history. 

“I don’t know who looked worse, me or my little guy. I asked my wife to tell me where the news was coming from, what source it was. It was so early. I just remember laying there and I wanted to go back to bed, and then I was kind of like laying there, one eye ... then my phone just started going off. Unfortunately I had to wake the little guy up and had to get my day started,” Schauffele continued. 

Considering the ongoing confusion and feelings of betrayal that the alliance has caused for PGA Tour players, it’s encouraging to hear that Schauffele was able to make light of that pivotal day in the golf world.