The coronavirus crisis that has suspended professional golf around the world for at least the next two months is also leading to suspensions at PGA Tour headquarters — specifically the salary of commissioner Jay Monahan.
Golfweek has learned that Monahan informed the PGA Tour’s board this week that he has decided to forgo his salary indefinitely during the emergency.
Since canceling the Players Championship after one round on March 13, the Tour has been forced to pull the plug on eight scheduled tournaments and postpone another three. It has also canceled events on its five other Tours, including the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour. In total, 17 tournaments have been canceled and another 20 postponed, with no guarantee they will be played at a future date.
In addition to Monahan giving up his salary, his senior management team — which includes those in the C-suite and at the executive vice-president level — agreed to a 25% salary cut, also to last indefinitely. Salaries for all other Tour employees will be frozen at 2019 levels.
Monahan and his senior team volunteered the cuts during a board meeting held by conference call on Thursday. The details were confirmed to Golfweek by a participant on the call who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
In the PGA Tour’s tax filing for 2017, the last year publicly available, Monahan was paid $3.9 million, a figure that included bonuses and incentive payments. That was his first year on the job as commissioner and his current compensation is believed to be higher.
A Tour spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.