Adam Scott believes future of golf still up in the air

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that Rory McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour policy board last week, with the six player-directors – McIlroy has been replaced by Jordan Spieth – set to eventually vote on whatever deal emerges.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