Adam Scott believes there is still "a lot of work to do" before the future shape of men's professional golf becomes clear.
The Framework Agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which blindsided players when it was announced in June, is due to be finalised by the end of the year.
That deadline appears almost certain to be missed, with the PGA Tour also assessing potential funding from several alternative private equity sources.
Scott admits he was "somewhat surprised" that Rory McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour policy board last week, with the six player-directors – McIlroy has been replaced by Jordan Spieth – set to eventually vote on whatever deal emerges.
"I heard that he was ready to step down earlier in the year, but he stayed and saw the year out," Scott, who is chairman of the Player Advisory Council, told reporters ahead of the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.
"Like his statement (said), I haven’t talked to him about it since then, but he feels like he’s got other priorities and he’s giving a lot of time everywhere and he couldn’t give the time to this any more.
"In one way that’s being responsible rather than holding a board seat and not being engaged.
"It’s really hard to know if the deal’s going to go through or not. As everyone knows, there’s four or five other parties interested in investing in the PGA Tour like PIF.
"So management have a lot of work to do to get some final deals on the table so the board can have a look at it and see if there’s a deal that is good for everyone."
Scott is seeking a third Australian PGA Championship title this week at his home course of Royal Queensland, where the new DP World Tour season gets under way just four days after the previous one finished in Dubai.
Poland’s Adrian Meronk, who will defend his Australian Open title next week, has been given the "honour" of hitting the opening tee shot at 6am local time.
"I usually get up three hours before I start, so it’s going to be a crazy alarm," Meronk said. "I was quite in shock when I saw that tee-time.
"To be honest, I’m a little bit tired after a long season but I made my commitments to come back so I’m happy to be here and play two weeks.
"The Australian Open win gave me a lot of confidence, playing with Adam (Scott) and Min Woo Lee in front of the home crowds in Australia.
"It was a really tough task for me, but to be able to get it done in front of them, beating the best players in Australia, that was a confidence boost for me as well going forward.
"So that win gave me a lot of good memories, momentum and confidence going into the rest of the season, which I think I used."
