World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler subtly daggered every LIV Golf pro at his RBC Canadian Open press conference

The alarm bells are ringing. The air raid sirens have sounded. Golf is under attack! On Wednesday morning, as Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed became the latest PGA Tour pros to head for LIV Golf’s greener (as in the color of money and the Saudi Arabian flag) pastrues, the panic stations were manned. Suddenly, it seemed, after a night of Phil parading around in his ceremonial leather jacket and DJ trying to read everybody’s name tag, the one-time Robert Garrigus Tour was picking up steam.

Then World No. 1 and 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler stepped to the podium at the RBC Canadian Open, smiled a wide smile, and with one subtle flick of his blade, shut the whole thing down.

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“Maybeeeee outside of DJ.” Yeeouch. Obviously we’re exaggerating a bit here. Scheffler didn’t shut anything down. LIV Golf will still be streaming on YouTube when you get up on Thursday morning, but Scheffler's comments drive at the heart of something that golf fans, pundits, and pearl-clutchers are missing:

You can’t miss what never was.

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DeChambeau has been hurt for months. Phil has been on his spirit quest-suspension thing. Poulter is best known for his pants, Sergio's last sane moment came half a decade ago, and although Reed has been regularly there, more than a few probably wished he wasn't. The narrative that PGA Tour fields are now decimated isn't just a knee-jerk reaction. It's patently false.

Even the big coup for Norman and the Saudi sheikhs, Dustin Johnson, hasn't been particularly competitive or compelling for the better part of two years. Johnson might go out there and beat up LIV Golf’s patchwork fields like Phil during his Champions Tour flirtations, but his last win came at the 2020 Masters, which is A. not a PGA Tour event and B. a tournament that famously levels the playing field for past-it guys. As long Paulina keeps churning out the Instagram Stories, is anyone really going to notice?

To us, the writers and fans who mostly see the PGA Tour from 10,000 feet, this seems like a watershed moment, and maybe it will be. But as Scheffler illustrates, for the guys who are literally in the room, bumping elbows on a week-to-week basis, it’s going to feel very much like business as usual this summer. Sorry to burst everyone's hysteria bubble, but that’s the reality. Out of sight, out mind. Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave.