Jordan Spieth’s thoughts on PGA Tour deal with Strategic Sports Group | Golf Central | Golf Channel

Jordan Spieth talks about his excitement to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his reactions to the deal between the PGA Tour and the Strategic Sports Group and more. #GolfChannel #GolfCentral #PGATour #JordanSpieth
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Jordan Spieth’s thoughts on PGA Tour deal with Strategic Sports Group | Golf Central | Golf Channel
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Yeah it’s I mean any golf lover would say this is one of the best places in the world if they’ve been here and um I think I said it in previous years but the fact that you get paid to play this course and don’t have to pay to play

This course is a is a nice benefit this week and you know the fact that it’s an elevated event um I’m extremely excited about I think the idea that you know you could have you know a few guys in three three to eight guys in the world’s kind

Of top 10 15 um coming down the stretch at Pebble Beach um regardless of the conditions would be something that would be very exciting to watch and uh you know other than the US Open you know that that hasn’t really been possible on this event so I think you know the uh

The field this week will make it um possibly the best AT&T yet um and I’m I’m extremely excited about that it looks like you know it’ll be unfortunate with the weather for a couple days but um you kind of got to hang in there and

Sunday looks like the worst of it so as long as you’re anywhere near it you’ll have a chance on Sunday and before questions uh you finished solo third in Maui uh just talk a little bit about the state of your game now coming into the

Week yeah I was um excited to get off to a good start the fact that the season um the season technically FedEx season started in Maui makes me feel really good about a solid finish I didn’t I I kind of wish that I had played in the last few weeks because the

Weather in Texas was kind of alltime bad um but I came out to California a little early and I’ve been trying to kind of get my game back to where I left it in Maui and it feels really good um it’s just a matter of going out and executing

Now but uh yeah I’m excited about what this season um you know can be for me um I feel like when I’m when I was in Maui I felt like when I was teeing it up I had a chance to win I feel that way you know sitting here Wednesday afternoon

Now and it’s it’s a good feeling to know that if I go out and do what um what I feel I’m perfectly capable of doing uh there’s nothing holding holding me back right now so just got to try to get better each week all right thank you for

That we’ll open it up to questions and we’ll go to Dave in the back yeah Jordan you probably could answer this better than anyone because you’ve played here so many more years but does does this week have a different feel to it does it feel elevated signature and in some

Selfish way are you you know I’m sure you’re glad to have all the top players here but you kind of had the place to yourself a little bit too uh yeah I don’t I don’t wish about the I don’t I don’t feel the latter part of

That um it has a feel of it because of who I’m walking around the locker room and on the driving range and on the course seeing and who I’m playing practice rounds with um you know it’s a it’s a it’s a Top Field um and it’s very

Cool to see that uh the fact that I don’t have Jake as a partner is probably the only negative um but I I haven’t met my partner yet and and I’m sure we’ll have a good time too um it’s a lot of years with Jake for you know for a

Change up here and I know he’s and and most of the amateur who weren’t able to come back especially the entertainers are bummed and are curious about what the future holds and I don’t know what that is either but um you know that’s that that’s the only thing I’ll miss is

Is our rounds with um Jake but um you know I think as you mentioned it’s just the fact that the field is what it is and we’re at this this place in particular it’s um to to highlight you know the best the PGA Tour has to offer around Pebble Beach is something that

Was a goal and it’s nice to finally be here doing it all right let’s go to Brody Jordan you know in terms of the deal with SSG you know as a board member I guess what is your expectation at this point of what that that funding could

Create you know what that might lead to in terms of the future of the tour well I think the the coolest the your question being spefic specifically about their funding I think the coolest thing about it is the players are now owners um so not only you know do they do they

Benefit with the tour they now they now are Equity owners so they want to push it themselves they want to make the product better themselves not that they didn’t before but you directly benefit from owning a piece and um so I think that part is maybe the coolest part of

The funding obviously having you know some big guns behind us uh some backup um and the strategery that this group offers was actually something that was very important um when we were looking at it so to have I think it’s like 200 years of sports owning experience um the

Idea they can help navigate you know our future um how content will be consumed when our our next media deals are up stuff like that to have these Partners in perpetuity is uh I don’t think that can be overlooked you know you talk about the funding but really the the

Strategies that they can have and and navigating that space I think will be very important and I think there’s been some comments I think Max tweets on today also about kind of hopefully this is an opportunity to make things better for fans and viewers and whatnot just in

Your personal opinion what is something that you’d like to see done to be make the game better for fans well I think um stability um you know would be something I I think fans in general you know um I don’t it’s I don’t think that it’s been

Uh I’m not actually sure because I’m not I’m not a typical fan so it’s hard for me to speak on on their behalf but I would say that the idea that there’s been any kind of negativity within our membership within uh fan base sponsors whatever that may be I hope that this

Starts to to turn the corner and recognize that um you know we’re in a place where we could be better than we’ve ever been as a tour um it’s the premier place to play professional golf uh and these Partners will help us continue to to make it that way and and

We’ll have you know some impact while the membership will still have the majority of the impact on what that can look like going forward but the fact that it’ll be um Collective uh and um very upfront very um they they want to talk to us they

Want to know what we want to know we want to know what what what they can do that that um as as just the talent um we can only go so far just playing golf so uh I think that it should be extremely positive at this point that the ship’s

Turning and and it can only go um the right way from here all right let’s go to Doug and then up to cam couple things Jordan how how important is it um for piff to be involved in this in this whole investment well they aren’t involved in this investment

I thought the tour was still negotiating with what’s that the tour is I mean they said they’re still negotiating with with PFF sure but this this specific investment announce they aren’t a part of while we’re still yeah while the tour and SSG are both still in conversations about

How they could going forward how important is it for them to to be involved to be part of it um I think it just depends I think um uh I think from where I sit which is hopefully representing our entire membership it it matters how they feel

About the entire situation and then you know at this point um if the piff were interested in coming in on terms that are our members like and um are the economic terms at or or not Beyond ssgs and and they feel it would be a good idea then I think that’s where the

Discussions will start um but it’s going to be um you know I think the idea is that it I I understand it could take some time to even come to those kind of terms and then beyond that uh you know the Department of Justice and a regulatory review would be intact

So um it would be a timely situation but um I’m not sure of the level necessarily of the importance because it’ll be up to our members to figure that out secondly Rory made a a comment yesterday that that he doesn’t think anyone at live um wanting to come back should be punished

And I just wanted to uh see if you had an opinion on that I think that um i’ I’ve asked a lot of players I’ve done a lot of talking with a lot of players um in the last couple months um that that is RO I I saw that too

That’s Rory’s Viewpoint I could name some guys with the same Viewpoint I could name some guys with a totally opposite Viewpoint so um it’s it’s certainly mixed on how players feel about that all right that’s how that’s what I think about all right cam uh Jordan I think if you add up

Players amateurs caddies I think there’s something like 300 fewer people out there um JT said the speed of the practice round was was much better um with was wondering what what other changes you’ve felt so far compared to a normal uh Pebble Beach tournament here I think it has I mean honestly it

Has a little less Bing Crosby to it um it was it was fun and unique in the way that it was um but it has the feel of closer to a major championship and so I think it’ll depend on what people that are not me want to do

Going forward with this event um but this week it feels more like a a golfers major championship type feel uh the fact that you can add in and and still make it a pro Amit too um hopefully those amers feel they uh they had a similar or

Even better experience um but yeah it’s a lot less people and and without the entertainment stuff it certainly has a different feel in that regard um off the course on the course um I’m only seeing you know I’m I’m playing practition with guys who played the US Open here and

That’s the last time they were here and it’s pretty cool to see them out here so it’s again there’s there’s there’s just different ways of looking at it depending on who you are maybe you like this way maybe you don’t um on course it feels like a

Major and off the course it feels a little less like you know the old being Crosby that it that it is all right let’s go back to Brody similarly what in your just overall golf opinion I mean what makes a good tournament to you you

Know how much is it you know wanting you know certain classic courses or how much is it relation to par and score or having the best players like what are the most important things to you in what makes a great tournament I think um yeah it’s a combination of the players the course

Course setup um yeah that’s probably I mean that’s what makes a great tournament Players Course course setup right back to and then we’ll go to Alex where did you play today did I played a back n at Pebble anything uh stand out not so much in birdies and

Bogies but any kind of Club selections and birdies have you looked outside um we played a par game today uh the rough has been taken in uh on quite a few holes um more so than usual the biggest change that’s extremely noticeable is number six even in the US

Open there was no rough down the right side at least as far as I can remember and it’s it’s cut in quite a bit which will be if you miss the Fairway to the right now but you’re not in the hazard you’re just in the right rough uh you’ll have a

Pretty difficult decision trying to hit up that Cliff or or you lay it lay it back that’s probably the biggest difference is the narrowing of the fairways everything else seems pretty much the same what about I was curious about the just the wind and what it was

Like today 17 as an example well I hit three-wood into number 10 um is that unusual uh it’s highly unusual it’s normally like a eight iron or nine iron uh and then 17 was like a rip five iron I hit the grand stands um but then I hit

You know 7 iron into 18 and hit uh four iron into 14 and had a chip wedge you know into 15 so it just the the wind is everything out here I mean it is it is Pebble Beach links I mean it the wind makes the tournament and if if it gets

Wet wet like it’s going to and then the wind is down um you know the only defense will be the greens uh but you should look for some low scores pre Sunday before the wind picks up let’s go to Alex Jordan on June 6th when they announced the framework agreement the

Understanding was there would be a possible piff deal in that in that situation and they were talking 300 million or somewhere around that neighborhood now that you got 1.5 billion and another 1.5 billion possibly in your pocket if you guys want it why do you need to do the piff

Deal I don’t think that it’s needed I think the positive would be a unification but I think that like I mentioned before I I just think it’s something that is almost not even worth talking about right this second given how timely everything would be to try to

Get it um figured out um but the idea is that we have a strategic partner that allows the PGA Tour to go forward the way that it’s operating right now without anything else with the option of other investors whether them or somebody else that’ll just be a

Decision um with them obviously being uh you know the the active talks um but I think the the short answer is we don’t have to um um and I think the long answer is the positive there is a is a unification but um like I’ve mentioned earlier we have

Members that feel strongly on both sides and so until that would be able to be solved and that would be number 10 on the list of 10 things despite um any government interference on on what they’ve talked about being a lengthy process um you know it it would be a a situation that

Should be we should try to have um but I’m not sure you know if or how or or when it would get done all right Jordan spe is bullish says this new deal with SSG gives the PGA Tour and this this new entity a

Chance to succeed uh Paul I do I want to address it it came up in that press conference Rory maroy he was you know fighting the fight for a long time and now he seems to have just said come on in you got welcome back Rah ke anybody

Else what what’s your take on on Rory’s turn in all this yeah I mean I think Jordan answered the question well there saying you know some people agree with him but you know most don’t um I think that’s for the PGA Tours to decide um and more than anything though Rich um

It’s the same when it comes to WR a cup eligibility um this is high level negotiation and when you’re dealing with the the Saudis and dealing with the piif you obviously want you know to get the best side of of any negotiation possible and any leverage you have which includes

Potential penalties or potential write a cup um availability should all be part of these negotiations well we’ll give you this but this is what’s got to come in return these you know you don’t hand it over on day one before negotiations are are concluded it’s a it’s it’s

Should be part of a good strong negotiation strategy and again I’ll go back to one of the real important important things that’s happened here today is that we have some serious people players in the sport of golf and The Business of sorry the business of sport and coming into golf now and

Acting with the PGA Tour to negotiate with the Saudis um so you know the PGA Tour is in a strong position now to take advantage and use that kind of Leverage as much as they can La it seems just sort of read the situation you know a

Couple of months ago I saw which way it was going get on board with The Winning Side probably but to the question that was asked late to Jordan if youve you’ve got upwards of three billion coming your way why do you need the public invest I like the way he answer unification

Unification is the only reason you don’t necessarily need them now of course you would like for them not to poach your players anymore but I think as a as a player I think we were all a bit concerned with the deal with piff that it would mean basically Saudi Arabia is

Buying the PGA Tour and I think given the the valuation of the tour being just under 14 million s excuse me billion ssg’s 3 billion in I think now we have we have you know cleared the Slate so if if piff comes in they will be a minority investor just like SSG