PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan spoke for the first time publicly since the Tour Championship in August and confirmed that negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s PIF are advancing. But his introductory comments on the State of the Tour and answers to questions from the media were thin on details.
Monahan repeatedly stated that it wasn’t in his best interest to negotiate publicly and often said “that he was moving forward” and “focused” on making the deal a reality.
“We’ve made and continue to make real progress in our negotiations and our discussions with the PIF. I recognize that this is frustrating for all of you, but it really is not in the best interest of the PGA Tour and our membership and for PIF for me to be talking about where we are with specific elements of our discussions,” he said. “I, again, I would just stress the fact that we’re engaged, we’re making progress, but I’m really not at liberty to share any of the details on that front.”
In short, it won’t go down as a very meaty press conference, but here are five of the more interesting topics and responses that Monahan delivered during his annual press conference:
“I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together. While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential.
“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.”
In a follow-up, Monahan said, “I do believe that negotiating a deal with PIF is the best outcome. Obviously, it has to be the right deal for both sides, like any situation or negotiation.”
“We’ve made and continue to make real progress in our negotiations and our discussions with the PIF. I recognize that this is frustrating for all of you, but it really is not in the best interest of the PGA TOUR and our membership and for PIF for me to be talking about where we are with specific elements of our discussions.”
When asked if it was dangerous for the Tour not to make a deal, Monahan said, “If we don’t negotiate a deal, then I think ultimately we’re back in the same posture that we’re in, and we haven’t unified our game and taken advantage of this unique point in time.
“But I don’t have anything further to add about what happens in we don’t. I’m focused on trying to see if we can.”
Monahan did a good job of spelling out why the deal with Strategic Sports Group matters for the Tour — “The PGA Tour has been limited in our ability to invest back into some of those growth opportunities. We no longer are with the formation of PGA Tour Enterprises,” he said — without giving any sense for how the funds will help the product grow … but it’s going to be great for the fans.
“Historically, our structure has limited our ability to make transformative investments into the sport. With PGA Tour Enterprises, with our 13-member Board of Directors now in place, and the partnership with Strategic Sports Group, we’ve changed that dynamic and unleashed our potential for future growth. With our player equity program, which is the first in professional sports, our interests and those of our players will be more deeply aligned. Our business thrives when together we’re all laser-focused on delivering for our fans. If we fail on that front, we fail on every front.
Of the first Policy Board meeting, held three weeks ago, he shared, “The substance of that meeting focused primarily on how we can place our current and future fans at the center of our decision making,” and noted, “we are actively assessing a number of investment options that focus on those fan priorities.”
This was an area where Monahan delivered some valuable details when asked if he’s currently satisfied with the model of the Signature events.
“I’m never satisfied with anything. But I would — it’s early days. We’re 10 (events) into this season.
“We’ve had 49 unique players outside the top 50 who have competed in signature events with help of the AON Swing 5 and AON Next 10. We are currently tracking at a 60 percent retention rate among the top 50. Using data comparing participation from the top 50 and top 125 in the FedExCup standings in 2023, or versus 2023, the strength of field at full-field events has improved by nearly 30 percent.
He went off on a long-winded tangent before segueing back to the subject and saying, “Let’s continue to have this conversation, but you’ve got great champions, as we sit here 10 weeks into it, and we’ve also had the reality — we had a little bit of an anomaly with three of our seven events being significantly impacted by weather.
“Then when you look at where we are year to date, you have six players last year at this point had won that were in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking. This year we have two. Last year you had zero players outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking that had won. This year we have four. The median OWGR for a winner at this point last year was 16. This year it’s at 67.
“The positive to that is new players and new stars are emerging, but the reason I say it’s early days is there have been some factors that I think have limited our ability to fully see the value of these Signature events.”
Monahan had to know this question was coming and could have answered with an easy yes or no.
At any point over the last nine months, have any of the player directors on the Policy Board called on you or any of the independent directors on that board to resign?
“You know, there’s been a lot of good-spirited debate amongst our board,” he said. “I don’t think that would be a surprise to anybody, you know, given the events of last summer. But we are a unified front. Our Policy Board continues to perform and function at a very high level with great support from our player directors, and the formation of PGA Tour Enterprises, with a new board, a new board comprised of four members of SSG, seven players, or six player directors and Joe Ogilvie, who is a liaison director, myself and Jo Gorder, who is the independent director serving on that board.
“I’m excited to work with both boards. For me, I’m honored to serve as commissioner and now be a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, and also honored to be CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises and be a part of that board, and committed to working with each of those boards to make sure we’re moving this business forward and achieving what we can achieve to its full capacity.”
The way Monahan chose to dodge a direct question in this case makes you wonder if the true answer is yes, he was asked to resign.
Q. As a follow-up then, do you feel you have the full backing, the full confidence of all the players that you are the right man to move this deal forward?
“You know, that’s a question that you’ll have to ask for players. I can’t generalize as it relates to players, but clearly given the responsibility I’ve been given by both boards, I have the support of our board, and I am the right person to lead us forward. I know that. I believe that in my heart, and I’m determined to do exactly that.”
This was a logical follow-up, but not sure what else Monahan could really say here than what he said.
LIV Golf has leaned into the Team Golf concept, and so it was worth asking Monahan whether he envisioned it being part of the plan going forward. He wasn’t showing his hand.
“There are a lot of things that we’re talking about, team golf being one of them, but I’m not at liberty to talk about the specifics. I just don’t think that’s helpful for what we’re trying to accomplish together. But I do appreciate the question.”
Another reporter asked Monahan if he shared Rory McIlroy’s vision of a world tour. If he does, he wasn’t saying today.
“That concept along with a number of other concepts have been discussed at the Policy Board, including Rory’s time on the Policy Board. Part of the dynamic of being commissioner of the PGA Tour is balancing the perspectives of not only our entire membership but perspectives of our board members, and it’s indisputable that this is a global sport. We have, over the years, moved to more international markets. I think the co-sanctioning that we did with the Genesis Scottish Open and the success we’ve had there, there are more opportunities on a go-forward basis. Balancing that within the realities of our business and our commercial model and thinking about that longer term is something that we will continue to do as a board. In fact, it’s something that we talked about at our most recent board meeting.”
This would have been the final year of Tiger’s exemption into the Players for winning the Masters in 2019 had he elected to play this week. Given his limited schedule, it’s possible he already has played his final Players. Monahan was asked if he would grant Tiger, a two-time winner of the Players and 82-time Tour champion, a special exemption.
“I think you all know Tiger well enough to know that he wants to earn his way into every competition. That’s his makeup,” Monahan said. “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.”