PGA of America CEO Addresses 'Out of Context' Comments on LIV Golf and OWGR

Seth Waugh said he's proud that the Masters returned 'civility' to golf and is looking to do the same this week at Oak Hill.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, reiterated his recent comments on LIV Golf’s business model and the league’s Official World Golf Ranking application, but he also said his words have “gotten out of context.” 

Waugh, who sits on the OWGR’s board of directors, spoke at Oak Hill Country Club along with John Lindert, the PGA of America President and Kerry Haigh, the PGA’s Chief Championships Officer ahead of the 2023 tournament. 

Last week Waugh told the Times of London that he didn’t believe in LIV Golf’s business model. The tour’s application for world ranking points is currently being reviewed by the OWGR. Without world ranking points, may of LIV’s players have been plummeting in the standings, which will impact their future major championship eligibility.

“There are certain parts of their structure that can be solved by math, but there may be some pretty fundamental things that are harder,’’ Waugh told the Times. “There’s the potential conflict with the team aspect and then access—how do you get relegated and promoted?”

On Tuesday, Waugh explained why he decided to voice such opinions, despite being in an influential position on the OWGR board. 

“I’ve been very consistent and reflecting [the PGA of America’s opinion], which we don't think division is in the best interest of the game. And then when asked what do I think, as a former businessman who looks at things, I think disruption is a good thing. I think good things have happened from that. 

“Certainly the players are better off in a lot of ways from what it was. I think having more the fans deal with—get to see more of the great players together more often is a good thing. I think there's more interest in the game frankly as a result of all this disruption. But when asked, I struggle and I have since the beginning, even before the beginning, with understanding how it's a sustainable business model. 

“When asked, I tend to try to say what I believe. That's not being a neutral body. I think being a neutral body is always acting in the best interest of the game, and that's what we'll always do and that's what I'll always do,” Waugh said. 

The CEO further commented on the OWGR’s review process for LIV Golf, which he noted has been a “healthy back and forth.” Last week, Waugh said that LIV hadn’t responded to an OWGR message in “weeks,” but the Saudi-back league refuted that statement. 

“There's been collegial back and forth of them making an application as other tours have done. We've responded; they've responded.

“...That's where it is. It is not a—this is not an us versus them. I think the OWGR, if you take a step back, the whole point is to create a level playing field, a yardstick by which to measure the game. Our job is to measure tours. Not players but tours and how they perform on those tours to come up with that yardstick. That's what we're all attempting to try to do.

“We've been, I think, very responsive to them in terms of their requests, and they've been responsive to us. It isn't some battle.”

Waugh was later asked which comments he referred to as “out of context,” as he mostly seemed to stand by his previous statements about the upstart league. 

“If you look at the whole article, if you will, it was, look, I am proud of Masters because they returned civility to the game. That's how they dealt with it. That's how we want to deal with it. Again, everybody is our invited guest."