PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jay Monahan pulled up a chair at TPC Sawgrass and talked about the state of golf, something he’d done in a far more biting tone in recent years.
On Tuesday at The Players Championship, the PGA Tour commissioner was far more about reconciliation and moving the game forward after a bitter two years of barbs and public fighting that have no doubt fractured the sport. Golfers still aren’t sure what to make of Monahan’s pivot from last year, but he is ready to move forward.
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Questions about the PGA Tour’s involvement with LIV Golf were still relevant, but from a different aspect this time. Monahan has softened his tone, and the conversation has shifted from bitter to acceptance. The Tour and the PIF (the Public Investment Fund) are making progress on what the sport will look like in the future. The golfing world doesn’t quite know what that will look like yet, but it’s inching its way along.
“It’s going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole,” Monahan said.
“Most importantly, I see a positive outcome for our great fans. Despite the distractions over the last two years, fans, sponsors and communities continue to value and engage with the PGA Tour, and I am more confident than ever in the fundamental strength of our organization.”
After a topsy-turvy two years of back and forth with rival league, LIV Golf, the PGA Tour agreed to a landmark merger with the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund last June. Discussions continue on what that ultimate merger will look like when things are finally finalized, but Monahan has had to do damage control, especially among the PGA Tour landscape.
“I think it’s really important that we’re all rowing in the same direction,” said golfer Patrick Cantlay. “I think with this PGA Tour Enterprises board, I think it’s really exciting that we do have a chance to kind of start with something new and all move together in the right direction.
Monahan was far more diplomatic this year than he’s been over the past two years about LIV when he openly strafed the rival entity about poaching PGA Tour players. It has been hostile and combative at times, something Monahan said he could have toned down.
“But obviously when you look back to last summer I could have handled that better, and I’ve taken full responsibility and accountability for that. That’s on me,” he said.
“But we’ve moved on, and we’ve made so much progress since that point in time and I have learned from it. I’ve been humbled by it. I think I’ve gotten stronger as a leader, and the progress that we have made since that point in time …”
Fans and the product are the main concerns for the PGA Tour now, but the fractured game of golf has certainly left many across the game upset.
“If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left. We had a tour, we were all together, and the people that left are no longer here,” said defending Players champion Scottie Scheffler. “At the end of the day, that’s where the splintering comes from. As far as our Tour goes, like I said, we’re doing our best to create the best product for the fans, and that’s really where we’re at.”
Xander Schauffele wasn’t quite ready to say that the commissioner has earned back confidence from Tour golfers quite yet. Players struggled in the aftermath of the merger last year, many feeling backstabbed after all of Monahan’s public quotes to the contrary.
“Trust is something that’s pretty tender, so words are words, and I would say in my book he’s got a long way to go,” Schauffele said. “He could be the guy, but in my book, he’s got a long way to go to gain the trust of the membership. I’m sure he’s got the support of the board, since they were with him making some of those decisions, but for me personally he’s got quite a ways to go.”
Monahan was also asked about the future of Tiger Woods here. Have we seen the last of Woods at TPC Sawgrass? Woods hasn’t played here since 2019 and has struggled with injuries since a serious one-car accident in 2021. Woods played just twice in 2022-23 and withdrew in the second round of the Genesis Invitational this year due to illness.
Woods would need a special exemption to compete at the Players, something Monahan was asked about Tuesday.
“I think you all know Tiger well enough to know that he wants to earn his way into all of -- into every competition,” Monahan said. “That’s his makeup. But I think as you go forward and as you evolve as an organization and you think about how do you serve and satisfy a rabid fan base, those discussions more broadly would likely be held at the Policy Board meeting, and I’m sure we would have that discussion. But he would be the hardest one to convince.