Tag: Jay Monahan

Lynch: Jay Monahan won’t talk about a Saudi deal, but one comment showed how things have shifted in his favor

Jay Monahan’s groundhog days lack lobster, piña coladas and escapades worthy of frisky marine mammals.

ATLANTA — ”I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters,” Bill Murray rants about the repetitiveness of his existence in the movie “Groundhog Day.” “That was a pretty good day. Why couldn’t I get that day over and over and over?”

Jay Monahan’s groundhog days also lack lobster, piña coladas and escapades worthy of frisky marine mammals. Instead, his involve press conferences in which he repeatedly declines to answer questions about the one subject folks wish to hear from him on: the state of negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Wednesday brought another of those at East Lake Golf Club during the commissioner’s press briefing at the Tour Championship, the transcript of which will show considerable overlap with his last one, at the Players Championship in March, and with his appearance here last year. That Monahan has actually offered more detail on the talks than his PIF counterpart, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, counts for naught since MBS’s bag man doesn’t make himself available for questions and is held to different standards in many matters, not least transparency and accountability.

There were several topics Monahan was eager to discuss — his themes were “engagement, momentum and innovation” — but the focus was, predictably, on what he didn’t say. Or more accurately, what he wouldn’t say.

“As it relates to any details of the conversations that we’re having with the Public Investment Fund, I’m not going to disclose details. I’m not going to get into specifics.”

“I’m not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics. All I can say is that conversations continue, and they’re productive.”

“When you get into productive conversations, that enhances the likelihood of positive outcomes, and that enhances the spirit of those very conversations. I think that’s where things stand.”

The fact that Monahan won’t talk doesn’t mean there isn’t something to talk about. There’s a difference between being evasive and simply not being expansive. Sources familiar with the current state of the PIF discussions suggest there’s occasional activity but that any particulars are being laboriously lawyered. It’s also apparent that Monahan concerns himself with just one constituency: the Tour’s Policy Board, or more specifically, the player-directors on that body. He knows that unilateral decisions are beyond his remit as commissioner thanks to the trilateral commission that created the controversial Framework Agreement. He’s clearly uninterested in the two precincts most vocal about wanting to see action on a deal: golf media (thirsty for new material), and LIV players (desperate to be insulated from the consequences of their decisions).

That Monahan isn’t hearing a clamor for progress from his own members indicates how the balance of power has subtly shifted in the Tour’s favor.

Conventional wisdom has long held that a delay in reaching a deal is disadvantageous to the Tour, that time allows LIV more opportunity to poach players, that time bleeds out the Tour’s product, that time amplifies discontent among fans, sponsors and partners.

But one comment that passed largely unnoticed in Monahan’s prepared remarks hinted at a shifting reality. “We now have the structure and the resources we need to define the future of professional golf on our terms and the significant support of a world-class group of investors,” he said, referring to Strategic Sports Group, which injected $1.5 billion into the Tour in January.

Humorist Will Rogers once described diplomacy as the art of saying “nice doggie” until you find a rock. In SSG, Monahan found his rock. It provided him something the Tour didn’t have a year ago: $1.5 billion worth of options.

To be sure, there are weeks when the PGA Tour’s product struggles to breathe, but by comparison, LIV’s is in hospice care. It has an audience that could be comfortably accommodated in one of East Lake’s hospitality suites (as long as there’s wifi for online trolling), zero market traction, expensive contract renewals looming, all while being hostage to capricious internal politics in Riyadh. Monahan can be forgiven for thinking his hand is strengthened as time passes.

Only when a PIF deal is announced does the clock start ticking on the inevitable and time-consuming Department of Justice review as to whether it’s anti-competitive. Monahan must know that the DOJ will almost certainly demand PIF turn over the same discovery materials it refused to submit during the original antitrust litigation against the PGA Tour, and which it won’t give to a U.S. Senate subcommittee. Why would the Tour break into a sprint when running a marathon in which its only competitor has more hurdles and potholes to navigate?

For all the times he chose to remain circumspect today on the prospects of a deal, Monahan gamely tried to lay out a vision for the Tour’s future. There’s a plan to address fan frustrations (though it’s not readily apparent how he can or will ameliorate broadcaster angst over ratings slumps). It remains to be seen what improvements or innovations his “Fan Forward” strategy will actually deliver, but its existence at least signals awareness that the Tour’s most pissed-off constituency is being heard, something Monahan promised to address back in March.

“We’re moving forward at speed and focused on what we can control, because that’s what we owe to our fans,” the commish said.

He didn’t announce $1.5 billion worth of innovation though, which raises intriguing questions about the Tour’s future ambitions or acquisitions with its nest egg. That too would be a sensitive subject, and questions he probably plans to leave unanswered at his next “State of the Tour” press conference, seven months from now.

Lynch: The Open exposes the risk in building golf around superstars who don’t show up

Depth equals strength, not dilution.

TROON, Scotland — It’s been almost 40 years since the debut of the musical “Chess,” and while it was ostensibly about, well, chess, and set mostly in Thailand, one lyric has currency at the 152nd Open on the dilapidated west coast of Scotland.

One night in Bangkok makes the hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble

This might be the only time you’ll ever see Troon cross-referenced with Bangkok, but this week has been a pointed reminder of how capricious and cruel elite-level professional golf can be. Many players who arrived at Royal Troon in form have already departed, while some long thought washed up are still working. The young and studly are licking their wounds, the old and infirm are applying heating pads to loosen up for their weekend tee times.

Because links golf is seldom played, and the weather is more impactful than at any other major, it’s easy to write off results in golf’s oldest championship as anomalies, blips not reflective of the norm, a self-contained sideshow that lacks real meaning for the broader game. Players can have that luxury of compartmentalizing — and probably need it — but the decision-makers currently shaping the future of the game don’t, and they ought to be paying attention to what’s happening 4,000 miles east of Ponte Vedra Beach (and 3,000 east of Fenway).

British Open: Leaderboard | Photos | How to watch

Because this Open is testament to the danger of constructing a product that’s rigged in favor of a small cohort of star players who then don’t actually deliver on the promise that’s been sold.

That’s the essence of sport, of course. Buying a ticket to a Lakers game doesn’t guarantee a fan will see LeBron James in full flight, nor even at all. But the odds are good that when the result is final, the star will be center stage. By comparison, golf is predictable only in its unpredictability.

A few things can be wagered on with certainty. Like Scottie Scheffler being in the mix, or Shane Lowry’s performance improving as the weather deteriorates, or John Daly missing the weekend (or going AWOL earlier in many cases). But the Open has showcased ample stories that seemed so improbable as the week began.

Take Daniel Brown, a little-known English professional whose 61st place finish at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open was his only made cut in more than four months. On Saturday, he played in the final group of a major — his first-ever major. Yet he showed up on Sky Sports’ set five hours before his tee time — evidence of a willingness to contribute, a lack of entitlement or a need to market himself, depending on your disposition. His countryman, Matt Wallace, missed the cut last week and during an emotional interview seemed about as low as a golfer can get. But he’s still here, and still working.

Matteo Manassero, the former child prodigy of European golf, who fell into an abyss that included stops on the Alps mini-tour, only to earn his way back to his first Open in a decade, is still just 31 years old. “Things also can turn around quickly,” the Italian said after making his first major cut since the 2016 U.S. Open.

2024 British Open
Ludvig Aberg reacts on the 18th green during day two of The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. The World No. 4 missed the cut. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Darren Clarke also hasn’t made a major cut since ’16, the last time the Open was at Royal Troon. But as Northern Ireland’s most celebrated golfer flew to Portugal for a vacation after missing the cut, Rory McIlroy’s former mentor is chugging along in his 32nd appearance. Clarke loves this event, but the 2011 champion confessed on Friday evening that 2025 might be his last, tempted to sign off at Royal Portrush, close to where he grew up.

“I know I’ve earned my spot in the field until I’m 60,” he said, “but I’d hate to think that I was stopping some 19 or 20-year-old lad from living his dream.”

Nor is Clarke the only regular from the geriatric circuit who survived the carnage of Troon. When Alex Cejka last appeared on the first page of a major leaderboard, George W. Bush still had two years left in the White House, while Padraig Harrington’s irrepressible love of the game keeps him working when most of his contemporaries left for the broadcast booth or the bar.

The walk-on actors are delivering their lines in this production. What of the leading men?

Ten of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are gone, blown off course and out of town by the challenging conditions. Major winners, runners-up and contenders dispatched without ceremony, including DeChambeau. McIlroy. Aberg, Hovland and Woods. The PGA Tour could have filled a charter jet Friday night from the ranks of winners this season who are surplus to requirements in Scotland.

That potential passenger manifest ought to be read carefully by Jay Monahan and SSG group’s John Henry, who are ultimately responsible for shaping and financing the Tour’s future. Depth equals strength, not dilution. The capriciousness of golf needs to be embraced because it can’t be litigated away in a misguided attempt to engineer a sport around a handful of superstars — a questionable strategy anyway when fans suspect that many of them aren’t quite the charitable, puppy-loving good guys they were promised. The few guys who sell tickets — really a precious few — can’t be guaranteed a spot at the trophy ceremony unless you’re willing to thoroughly bastardize the concept of meritocracy. Some weeks (even some of the biggest weeks) just turn out to be more about the Davids than the Goliaths, and the best weeks are about both. This is one of the best.

If they want predictability in the product, only one man in the field at Royal Troon delivered it. John Daly was a WD, as he was at the PGA Championship, and numerous times previously. It’s been a dozen years since he last played the weekend in a major, 14 years since he finished inside the top 50, 19 since he broke the top 20, and 29 since he had a top 10. But even that show has only two years left to run.

Jay Monahan talks at the Travelers Championship, reveals little about PIF/LIV negotiations

Monahan met with the media Wednesday morning.

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CROMWELL, Conn. — Two years ago at the Travelers Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sat behind an elevated desk and tried to project strength and resolve. He talked for roughly 40 minutes that day about a reworked, calendar-based schedule for the tour, massive purse increases at Signature Events and how challenging it is for players to earn a spot on the PGA Tour. With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) poaching stars and signing them to compete in LIV Golf, Monahan was trying to keep more of the PGA Tour’s stars from defecting and the rank-and-file golfers happy.

Wednesday morning, Monahan stood in front of the same desk instead of sitting behind it. Air-conditioning protected everyone from the sweltering conditions outside at TPC River Highlands. Reporters, holding audio recorders, encircled him.

Monahan spoke in a low, conversational voice. He was measured and controlled, and he stayed on brand. For just under 15 minutes, the head of the PGA Tour talked about the state of the PGA Tour. However, at the end of his chat with reporters, there were only a few things that we learned, and if golf fans were dreaming that rumors of a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announcing a deal soon could be true, Monahan did nothing to make that dream feel like a reality.

Travelers: Best photos

Here are the most significant takeaways.

1. Negotiations with PIF are continuing in the background, not through the media

“I know (the media) are eager to know more,” Monahan said. “But I will go back to the meeting that we had just two Fridays ago in New York, when our entire transaction committee, including Tiger Woods and Adam Scott being in person and Rory dialing in from the Memorial Tourmament, alongside Yasir Al Rumyan, the governor of the PIF, and representatives of the PIF … it was a very productive discussion. As we said, progress was made and we continue to be in regular dialog. I had a 10 o’clock call this morning with the PIF and we’re doing that multiple times a week.”

Rumors that were floated last week on social media that a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF would be announced here this week proved false, and Monahan is clearly not going to talk about the specifics of the negotiations outside closed-door meetings.

“I’d like to give you more, but I would say to you that there are a lot of important aspects that we talked about in that meeting, aspects that will be important towards the final agreement that we got consensus on, and then there were a number of areas that we recognized that we weren’t going to, but identified them and that’s what we’re focused on.”

2. The ‘Framework’ is not being used

On June 6, 2023, the PGA Tour and PIF announced that a framework had been reached, ending the litigation between the two groups. It was not a takeover or merger agreement, but in the words of the PGA Tour was, “a set of requirements and safeguards that guide our work toward a definitive agreement.”

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and every other PGA Tour player was shocked by the announcement and caught off guard. However, a year later, that agreement has lost most of its value.

“I would say that the framework agreement is still relevant, there are aspects of it that still continue to be in play, but I would put it that we’ve all stepped back and we’ve started anew,” Monahan said. “Particularly with the introduction of our transaction committee, our players’ involvement … I would say that the vast majority of what we’re talking about, we’re building from the ground up.”

3. With complexity comes opportunity

Between the interests and concerns of the PGA Tour, PIF, players, the Department of Justice and fans, the negotiations taking place to unify men’s professional golf are complicated. Very complicated.

When Monahan was asked whether members of the media and fans fully understand how nuanced and intricate the discussions are, he said when business heavyweights like John Henry (the principal owner of the Boston Red, Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool Football Club, and the Boston Globe), Sam Kennedy (Red Sox president), Arthur Blank and others say this is one of the most complex scenarios they have ever seen, it’s hard to think anyone on the outside of the talks could fully grasp them.

“So as it relates to whether or not the complexity is being underestimated, I think that it is only fair to say that unless you have a full context for everything that is being discussed, it would be unreasonable for anyone to think that you would fully understand the complexity,” Monahan said.

At that point, Monahan uttered a phrase that would make any optimist proud: “With complexity comes opportunity.”

4. Tiger’s exemption

Following Tuesday evening’s PGA Tour policy board meeting, the tour announced that Woods had been given a special exemption into all future Signature Events. Right now, these events are contested by golfers who finished in the top 50 of the prior season’s FedExCup, players who win PGA Tour events, golfers who are ranked in the top 30 on the Official World Golf Ranking and other elite-player rankings.

“It is something that was important to our membership, it was something we talked about with the PAC (Player’s Advisory Council), it was important to our player directors, it’s important to our board,” Monahan said.

“It’s important to me because, as the exemption says, the man has won more than 80 events and I think being able to give him the opportunity to compete in these events … any event he’s ever played in, he’s made it bigger, he’s made it better and he’s drawn more eyeballs to it.”

PGA Tour on meeting with LIV Golf’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan: ‘We want to get this right’

The Tour released a statement on Saturday morning that the meeting went off as planned.

After Rory McIlroy confirmed earlier this week that a number of PGA Tour representatives, including Commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods, would be meeting in person with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Tour released a statement on Saturday morning that the meeting went off as planned.

Here’s what was released by the Tour:

As previously stated, our negotiations with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) have accelerated in recent months. Representatives from the PGA TOUR Enterprises Transaction Subcommittee and the PIF have been meeting multiple times weekly to work through potential deal terms and come to a shared vision on the future of professional golf. On Friday evening, an in-person session in New York City included the entire Transaction Subcommittee and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his team, where more progress was made. We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.

McIlroy said in pressers prior to this week’s Memorial that members of the Tour’s Transaction Subcommittee have talked three times a week with the Saudis. The New York meeting represented their first in-person gathering since March. The other members of the committee are Adam Scott, board liaison Joe Ogilvie, Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder and Fenway Sports Group principal John Henry.

The PGA Tour has entered into an agreement for Strategic Sports Group to invest at least $1.5 billion and as much as $3 billion into the Tour’s new for-profit entity. The Tour and PIF met in March in the Bahamas after the Players Championship for the first time. Jimmy Dunne, whose secret meeting with Al-Rumayyan in early 2023 led to the Framework Agreement, resigned from the Tour board in mid-May citing “no meaningful progress” toward a deal with PIF. Woods and Jordan Spieth, both fellow Tour player directors, disagreed with Dunne and called that a false narrative.

In an exclusive interview with Golfweek, Ogilvie characterized the first meeting between player-directors and Al-Rumayyan as “perfect.”

“It was a perfect first meeting. When we were going into the room, one of the big things was how do we address him? If we’re gonna address him as His Excellency, that’s just kind of weird,” Ogilvie said. “He comes in the room, shakes everyone’s hand, and looks you right in the eye and says, ‘My name is Yasir. Please call me Yasir.’ I had heard that he’s a nice man and that he loves the game of golf, and nothing told me otherwise after meeting him. It would be naive to think that we’re going to come out of that meeting with a handshake deal and say, ‘We’re done here.’

“It was a very good meeting and you could see that there was a mutual respect between he and Jay, which is also good.”

See more from that extensive Q&A with Ogilvie here.

Confirmed: PGA Tour and PIF to meet in person in New York on Friday afternoon — and why John Henry’s role is critical

Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods lead a group meeting in person with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

One day after the one-year anniversary of the PGA-Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announcing the Framework Agreement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods are leading a group that is meeting in person with the PIF’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan on Friday afternoon in New York.

Speaking to a handful of reporters, including Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig on Thursday, Rory McIlroy, who was named to the Tour’s Transaction Subcommittee a few weeks ago, confirmed he would be part of the meeting, joining remotely via video conference following his second round of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

McIlroy said the group has talked three times a week with the Saudis. The New York meeting represents their first in-person gathering since March. The other members of the committee are Adam Scott, board liaison Joe Ogilvie, Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder and Fenway Sports Group principal John Henry.

“There’s going to be people in that room on the PGA Tour side who are going to take the lead,” McIlroy told a handful of reporters after his round. “And it’s not going to be Adam, Tiger or I. It’s going to be the business guys. We’re there to maybe give a perspective from a player’s point of view.

“This is a negotiation about an investment in the PGA Tour Enterprises, this is big-boy stuff. And I’ll certainly be doing more listening than I will be doing talking.”

Henry, whose Fenway Sports Group owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club and Pittsburgh Penguins, is one of the leaders of the ‘big-boy stuff.’ In an engaging profile of Henry, the Financial Times includes the story of how Strategic Sports Group, which already has invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises and potentially as much as $3 billion, came to be.

A year ago in June, a week after the blockbuster news of the PGA Tour-Saudi PIF’s framework agreement and intention to create a new for-profit company, Henry was in New York to attend a routine meeting of baseball owners.

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry, left., at Fenway Park before a game against the Minnesota Twins. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

“Henry couldn’t understand how it had come to this. Why was golf, the most well-heeled of elite sports, so desperate for financial salvation that it would merge with its ideological and marketplace opposite?” Sara Germano writes on FT.com. “Seated in a midtown skyscraper with a half-dozen of his fellow billionaires — all men, all American — at the Major League Baseball meeting, he saw a group of like-minded titans. Couldn’t they come up with an alternative plan for the PGA Tour, he wondered. Henry started asking around the room: would you put up some funds to invest in golf? How about you? To others present for the meeting, golf was the last thing they thought Henry would be interested in. “He has a lot of hobbies, but that’s not one of them,” recalled Sam Kennedy, chief executive of FSG and one of Henry’s closest associates for more than two decades. But Henry wasn’t making a passion play. He had seen a problem and was in a roomful of people with the means to fix it.”

According to the Financial Times, the baseball owner’s meeting became the launch pad of SSG, a consortium of American businessmen whose portfolios include all manner of global sports. As Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and PGA Tour Superstore, told FT.com, Henry’s pitch went like this: “the world of golf was in “turmoil,” and would he have any interest in joining an optional financial lifeline to the PGA Tour, either instead of or in addition to the PIF merger?

Arthur Blank
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank walks of the field against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. (Photo: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports)

Blank was among those owners, which also include New York Mets owner, Steve Cohen, who signed up. “We saw it as doing the right thing, as leading American businessmen,” Blank told Germano.

On the morning of Nov. 9, she reported that Woods invited the prospective investors to his oceanside offices in Jupiter, Florida.

“According to people who were present, Woods was joined by fellow players Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, as well as the Raine Group’s Colin Neville, along with various staff. Several other players tuned in via Zoom. The SSG delegation consisted of Henry, his wife Linda, FSG executives Tom Werner and Sam Kennedy, Blank and Andy Cohen of Steve Cohen’s Private Ventures, among others.”

This paragraph from the Henry profile may give a clue to his role in Friday’s meeting: “Despite his reputation, Henry was anything but reticent that morning. ‘John probably repeated 10 times, ‘We want to be aligned with the players’,” one person who was present told Germano. “It left a good impression with the golfers, and SSG went back to their offices to polish the finer points of their proposal.”

Less than a week ago, Scott told Golfweek that negotiations were about to heat up and that appears to be true.

Family confirms death of PGA Tour’s Grayson Murray was a suicide: ‘We know he rests peacefully now’

The family thanked the Tour and others for the support they have provided in the wake of his death.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The family of Grayson Murray, the troubled PGA Tour player who died on Saturday morning, confirmed by a statement issued through the PGA Tour on Sunday that the 30-year-old’s death came by suicide.

In the statement from his parents, Eric and Terry Murray, the family thanked the Tour and others for the support they have offered in the wake of his death.

Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner, battled alcohol issues and depression. He had played in the first round of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, shooting a 68, but then withdrew with two holes to play in his second round.

PGA Tour: Golf world reacts to Grayson Murray’s tragic passing

This was the statement from his family:

We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.

We have so many questions that have no answers.

But one.

Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.

We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.

Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy, and please honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.

Photos: Grayson Murray through the years

On Saturday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan spoke about his discussions with Murray about how the Tour could better support players dealing with mental health issues.

“Over the last several years, I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do in his estimation, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here.” Monahan said at Colonial Country Club on Saturday after flying in from the Tour’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “We’ve made a number of advancements along those lines and, you know, it’s become a real point of focus and emphasis. We’re proud of the programs we have in place to support our players, to support everybody out here.”

After Grayson Murray called out the PGA Tour in 2021, commissioner Jay Monahan had lengthy talks with him about mental health

Monahan had lengthy talks with Murray about mental health, he revealed on Saturday.

FORT WORTH, Texas — After Grayson Murray called out the PGA Tour via social media in 2021, saying he hadn’t been given enough support through bouts with alcoholism and mental health, commissioner Jay Monahan had lengthy talks with the troubled player, he revealed on Saturday.

Murray died on Saturday morning, after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge on Friday. No cause of death has been listed. He was 30.

In his 2021 post, Murray said he hadn’t had pleas answered during difficult times, especially when he was at his lowest.

“No the pga tour didn’t force me to drink. but the pga tour never gave me help. In my 5 years of experience of being on tour not once have i ever had a request been acknowledged by the commissioner or the PAC other than ‘we will get back to you’. I hope not only the PGA tour steps up in the areas they need to step up but i also hope people are held accountable in their roles they serve,” said the tweet from Murray’s account that was later deleted.

After the post went viral, a number of players reached out to Murray, who became the second youngest player to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event when he did so at the age of 16.

And Monahan said he instantly talked with Murray, who at the time had a single PGA Tour victory — the Barbasol Championship — under his belt. Murray later went on to win the 2024 Sony Open as well, and had three Korn Ferry Tour victories on his resume.

“When Grayson said that, I called him right away,” Monahan said at Colonial Country Club on Saturday after flying in from the Tour’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “You know, over the last several years, I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do in his estimation, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here. We’ve made a number of advancements along those lines and, you know, it’s become a real point of focus and emphasis. We’re proud of the programs we have in place to support our players, to support everybody out here.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan prepares for a spot on Golf Channel at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Monahan flew in from Florida after learning of the death of Grayson Murray. (Photo: Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)

“You know, I’m devastated by Grayson’s loss, obviously, but — not but — the conversations I had with him, particularly the last year, I learned an awful lot from him. He was very open and transparent with me. Most importantly, I think back to, he was talking about, you know, how he was interested in real estate and how he had become interested in things he wasn’t interested in before. He talked about just the peace he had in his life. He talked about — you know, go back to that Sony Open transcript. I mean, everything he talked about after he won the Sony Open, he talked to a lot of people about, and I found inspiration in that personally, and I also found inspiration in that as a leader of this Tour.”

Photos: PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray through the years

Murray had dealt with alcohol issues, but after months of sobriety, a victory at the Sony Open seemed a vindication that he’d put any demons behind him. When he dropped a 40-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff against Byeong Hun (Ben) An and Keegan Bradley, Murray seemed to have found himself fulfilling all the potential he’d displayed as a decorated amateur.

“It just goes back to just my life is so good right now. I wouldn’t trade anything. I have a beautiful fiancee. I have beautiful parents. I have beautiful nephews, siblings,” Murray said after the victory in January. “Everyone in my life right now who is close to me who has been through the struggles with me, it’s all a team effort. I’m not sitting here — I am sitting here alone, but all of them are part of this.

“I think this is just the start of something really special.”

Monahan acknowledged on Saturday that he had long talks with Murray, hoping to provide as many resources to players as possible, especially considering how isolating PGA Tour life can be on a consistent basis.

In retrospect, he hopes Murray will be remembered as one of the pioneers on that front, a player who pushed the Tour to maintain a focus on mental health.

“I just want to be clear. We don’t know the circumstances around Grayson’s passing,” Monahan said. “My conversations with Grayson in the past, you know, in the area of mental health, we’re always challenging ourselves to make certain that we’re on the front edge of being able to provide the support that we can for everybody out here.

“Listen, these are some of the best athletes in the world. They think they’re — you know, and they are, in many respects, invincible. I think one of the things that I think back about Grayson’s openness is — and I speak about courage, he taught us all a lesson on that front.

“And that’s something I’ll never forget.”

PGA Tour star Grayson Murray dead at 30

The two-time PGA Tour winner battled alcohol issues and depression.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Grayson Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner who battled alcohol issues and depression, has died, according to PGA Tour officials. He was 30.

Murray played the first round and part of the second round in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, but withdrew from the event after 16 holes on Friday, citing an illness.

No cause of death has been listed, but PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan issued a statement to staff and players stating that grief counselors would be on hand. The tournament will continue as scheduled.

Murray attended Wake Forest University, East Carolina University, and Arizona State University, and later won the 2017 Barbasol Championship and the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii.

“We were devastated to learn — and are heartbroken to share — that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray passed away this morning,” Monahan said in his note. “I am at a loss for words. The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same. We mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones. I reached out to Grayson’s parents to offer our deepest condolences, and during that conversation, they asked that we continue with tournament play. They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so.

“As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes. The PGA Tour has grief counselors available at both tournament sites, as well as virtually for those not in the field. I am en route to Ft. Worth and will share more information when we can.”

After capturing three straight IMG Junior World titles starting in 2006, he became the second youngest player to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event when he did so at the age of 16. He also played in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion as an amateur.

Murray showed great promise on the course, winning the 2017 Barbasol despite drinking during tournament week and admitting in January that he played three days hungover when he won.

“Best thing and worst thing that ever happened to me was winning my rookie year,” he said. “I think the alcohol brought a side out of me that wasn’t me. It was kind of the monster in me in a way.”

Photos: PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray through the years

But the early success proved to be short-lived. He struggled to make cuts and conceded he was jealous of the players he grew up competing against, who were having greater success. Along the way, he had a Twitter spat with a fellow player, suffered a scooter accident in 2022 in Bermuda, and threatened to quit on multiple occasions. Murray also dealt with anxiety and depression, and said there were days he didn’t want to get out of bed.

“I just thought I was a failure,” he said. “I thought I had a lot of talent that was just a waste of talent.”

It appeared his life turned around, however, as Murray had gotten sober in 2023.

“It was by choice,” he said after winning the Sony Open. “It was time.”

He regained exempt status on the PGA Tour after winning twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and set out to treat his return to the big leagues as a new beginning.

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Murray said he was treating the 2024 season as if it was his rookie year all over again.

“I was young and thought I was invincible. Wasn’t doing the correct stuff off the course to really give myself the best chance to succeed out here,” he said. “My scooter accident in Bermuda was really a low point in my life. You know, I’ve obviously been vocal about the alcohol use in the past. I’m over eight months sober now. I have a beautiful fiancée that I love so much and who is so supportive of me, and my parents are so supportive of me.”

Murray made waves via social media in 2021 when he revealed his struggles with Tour life that he said had led him to become an alcoholic. Murray claimed he was on probation with the PGA Tour after he got drunk in a Hawaii hotel bar despite causing “no scene whatsoever.” He also expressed disappointment that the Tour didn’t help him deal with his alcohol problem.

“We are saddened and heartbroken to learn about the sudden passing of Grayson Murray,” Kevin Canning, Murray’s agent, said in a statement. “Grayson has been a longtime member of the GSE family and hearing the news this morning shocked all of us. We will hold off on commenting until we learn further details but our heart aches for his family, his friends and all who loved him during this very difficult time.”

Tiger Woods on the state of his game, PGA Tour-PIF negotiations and that goatee

Here are four things to know from Tiger’s pre-tournament press conference. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tiger Woods remembers the feeling of walking in his birdie putt at the 16th hole at the 2000 PGA Championship en route to a playoff victory over Bob May that marked his third straight major triumph.

“I just remember the pressure that I felt, the chance, an opportunity to do something that Ben Hogan did in 1953,” Woods said on Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of his 24th career start at the PGA Championship. “With all of that pressure and we kept feeding off of one another. He would make a putt, I would make a putt, I would make a putt, he would make a putt. It was a fun back nine.

“We never really missed shots on that back nine and then in the three-hole playoff. For us to shoot those low of scores, it was special.”

Woods would like to rediscover some of that old magic as he pursues his 16th major championship and a fifth PGA Championship title this week at Valhalla Golf Club. But he also is quick to point out that that was a long time ago and the course, which will play over 7,600 yards, has changed a lot over the years.

“We were talking last week when we came up (about) how many 2-irons I used to hit off this property. Now it’s, everything is drivers. Just because they moved it back, it’s longer. But the first hole I hit driver and a 60-degree sand wedge in there. Today I hit a driver and a 5-wood. So it’s a bit different.”

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Here are four more things to know from Tiger’s pre-tournament press conference.

State of his game

Tiger hasn’t played since the Masters, where he made the cut but ran out of gas on the weekend. Asked to assess the state of his game, he said, “I wish my game was a little bit sharper. Again, I don’t have a lot of competitive reps, so I am having to rely on my practice sessions and getting stuff done either at home or here on-site.”

Tiger came here last week on a scouting trip and returned to practice on Sunday and Monday to take advantage of the better weather before the rain hit on Tuesday. He also pointed out that the course isn’t as difficult of a walk compared to Augusta National – “just stay out of the rough,” he said – and feels he can still stoke memories of his 2000 win.

“I still feel that I can win golf tournaments,” he said. “I still feel I can hit the shots and still feel like I still have my hand around the greens and I can putt. I just need to do it for all four days, not like I did at Augusta for only two.” He added: “At the end of the day, I need to be ready mentally and physically come Thursday.”

PGA Tour-PIF negotiations

Genesis Open
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan (L) meets with Tiger Woods during the Pro-Am of the Genesis Open at the Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2018, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

As a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and with his role on the newly-created Transaction Subcommittee, Tiger knew he would be bombarded with questions about negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and he was ready to say very little. He kept the good stuff close to his Sun Day Red vest.

But here’s what he did share: “We’re working on negotiations with PIF. It’s ongoing; it’s fluid; it changes day to day. Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process, and so we’re making steps and it may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps.”

On seeing the future of golf differently than Rory McIlroy: it’s good to see it differently, but collectively as a whole we want to see whatever’s best for all the players, the fans, and the state of golf. How we get there, that’s to be determined, but the fact that we’re in this together and in this fight together to make golf better is what it’s all about.”

On Jimmy Dunne’s resignation from the PGA Tour Policy Board yesterday: “It was a bit surprising that he resigned yesterday and just how it all came about, but, no, his role and his help, then what he’s been able to do for the PGA Tour has been great.”

On fans tuning out pro golf amidst the turbulence between the Tour and LIV: “I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk of not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players. It’s about what LIV is doing, what we’re doing, players coming back, players leaving, the fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined. “

U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy – still TBD

If you bet on the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain being announced officially this week, well, you can rip up your ticket. Tiger confirmed he’s had discussions since the Masters with PGA CEO Seth Waugh but no decision has been made yet.

“We’re still talking. There’s nothing that has been confirmed yet. We’re still working on what that might look like. Also whether or not I have the time to do it,” he said. “I’m dedicating my so much time to what we’re doing with the PGA Tour, I don’t want to not fulfill the role of the captaincy if I can’t do it. What that all entails and representing Team USA and the commitments to the PGA of America, the players, and the fans and as I said, all of Team USA. I need to feel that I can give the amount of time that it deserves.”

Tiger did not disclose a timetable on making this decision.

And the goatee?

Tiger Woods at a press conference prior to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

Tiger was told that the Internet was loving his facial hair, which he showed up with this week at Valhalla. Asked if the goatee was a conscious decision or laziness, he laughed and said, “It’s the second. I’m definitely lazy. I cut myself this morning trying to trim it up so it is what it is.” Tiger Woods, just like us.

Lynch: The PGA Tour’s new committee will be mocked, but it’s the last hope for grown-ups to take charge

The Transaction Subcommittee’s anodyne name belies its importance.

Committees often have about as much utility as ashtrays on motorcycles, and in golf usually serve only as a mechanism to butcher great courses and honor the milquetoast. On occasion, however, they can be impactful. The three-man panel that negotiated the PGA Tour’s Framework Agreement with the Saudis last summer certainly made an impression, not least because other Policy Board members didn’t know of its existence nor much care for its output.

The backlash to that secretive process sparked a time-consuming and overdue governance review that is essential as the Tour shapeshifts from an indolent non-profit with complacent members into a modern league with shareholders and investors. A handful of oversight committees have now been established at PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity that runs the business. Most are standard operating procedurals, but one panel in particular suggests the Tour is about to move beyond childish bickering and begin letting grown-ups shape its future.

The Transaction Subcommittee’s anodyne name belies its importance. It will handle talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on a potential deal and make a recommendation to the full Policy Board — one the politburo is unlikely to reject from its hand-picked negotiators. Committee members include Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder, commissioner Jay Monahan and John Henry, the principal of Strategic Sports Group, which just invested a billion-five into the product. There are also four players: Joe Ogilvie (retired, and now a humble money manager), Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy. In short, a lot of people unaccustomed to making business calls by committee.

No one is on the panel to present moral arguments about being in business with a despot. Those who harbor any such reservations will check them at the door and treat negotiations as a matter of commerce, not conscience. But it is at least a committee of adults, something sorely needed in this sorry mess.

The PGA Tour has been consumed with dual crises, one internal, one ex-. The latter is obvious — the LIV threat, caused by the depth of Saudi pockets and the shallowness of character among the Tour’s own membership. The internal dispute mostly remained behind boardroom doors until spilling into the open this week when a faction of player-directors (Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth) blocked an effort to reappoint McIlroy to the Policy Board he left six months ago.

The rebuff wasn’t unjustified. There must be a legitimate and transparent process governing board appointments and having Webb Simpson nominate McIlroy as his successor ain’t either. Still, there was no hand-wringing when Woods was added to the board in the middle of the night, the only member without (still) an expiration date for his term. The Pope of Ponte Vedra serves at his own discretion, it seems. But the stiff-arming of McIlroy exposed how personal grievances have masqueraded as governance concerns.

There are ample misgivings about how the Tour is run and most are genuinely held and valid. But some guys just remain angry at being blindsided by the Framework Agreement, while others are pissed because they left LIV’s millions on the table and know their moment has passed. They want the heads of those who architected the June 6 deal — Monahan, Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne — and the thirst for retribution has paralyzed the organization at a perilous time.

That faction sees McIlroy as too close to their nemeses, but in balking at his return to the board they might have overplayed their hand. A public perception now exists that the Cantlay camp wields power, which means that credit for progress — or, more likely, blame for a lack thereof — is destined for the same desks.

Thus McIlroy now finds himself used by both sides. Having long been a proxy for executives in fighting the public battle against LIV, he is now seconded to the Transactions Committee as a convenient means of providing cover for the players who didn’t want him to have a board vote, but who fear even more scrutiny for having rejected him. The Tour is fortunate that he’s sufficiently toughened (or soft) to endure its maladroit bungling in his effort to contribute to a solution. McIlroy’s relationships with stakeholders on both sides will be useful to the committee, but not enough to single-handedly forge a settlement in golf’s civil war. Even a good-faith effort might still mean the Tour moves forward without a toxic association with the PIF.

Whatever the outcome, the spectacle of backroom squabbling has focused a harsh light on the role of players in management. The to-ings and fro-ings of recent years prove that most players will make decisions based upon personal priorities, not the broader good of the sport or a tour. That tendency is incompatible with the executive functions they now feel entitled to exercise.

If nothing else, perhaps this committee will hasten a day when all of them can get back to adding value where they do it best — inside the ropes — and leave the actual business to those qualified for the challenges.

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