ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – After PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced Tuesday evening to the membership that Rory McIlroy was stepping down as a member of the Tour Policy Board with one year left on his term in office, the talk of the locker room at Sea Island Resort has been who will replace him.
“I was actually thinking about it this morning,” said veteran pro Ryan Armour on Wednesday.
We’ll get back to Armour in a moment but let’s begin with Lanto Griffin, the winner of the 2019 Houston Open, who had plenty to say about McIlroy, who succeeded Jordan Spieth as a player director on the board, serving a three-year term (2022-24).
“Rory was great because he was approachable by everybody, but at the same time he was bought by the Tour,” Griffin said. “The head of the board has the same sponsors as the Tour and the Players, there’s influence there – I’m talking Workday, I can’t remember all of them, Golfpass. The guy who’s running the board is being paid by all the title sponsors, it’s a little sketchy to me.”
Griffin, 35, who is playing on a major medical after having a microdiscectomy to repair a disc in his back late last year, said he would like to see someone who has prior experience on the Player Advisory Council or board and was a well-liked veteran by the majority of the players.
“There are certain guys out here among the top players who won’t give you the time of day and then there are guys like Rory who will. I talked to him for about 30 minutes at Players and then again in Canada, which is really nice of him, and he listens,” Griffin said. “There are some guys out here who wouldn’t do it. Justin Thomas wouldn’t do it. Collin Morikawa wouldn’t. I feel like there is an elitist group. Rory feels like he can listen in and understand where we’re coming from, too. Someone like that with personality. Brandt Snedeker just to throw a name out. Someone who is respected by everybody but also has some perspective and isn’t just making $40 million to $50 million off the course and is going to be guaranteed to be in every elevated event.”
The mention of Signature Events took Griffin down a different path, but his comments are worth exploring because they give a window into how the rank-and-file players feel heading into uncertain times. In short, Griffin contends the Signature Events are unfair because the inflated FedEx Cup points give the top players a head start to keeping their card.
“Give them all the money they want but when you start giving them the points, I’ve got a problem with that,” Griffin said. “Do you know what fifth in an elevated event next year makes in FedEx Cup points? 300. It’s 110 for a normal event. So I go play Torrey Pines with 156 players and a cut and Rory goes to L.A. the next week in a 78 players, no-cut field, and he gets nearly three times the points for the same finish. How is one going to compete with that? The guys that are making the decision are obviously going to look out for themselves. That’s where there is a disconnect for guys in my position, the normal guys. So having someone who will listen and not be only concerned about the top 10.”
Griffin clarified that whoever replaces McIlroy as a player director could be someone who once was in the top 10 but isn’t any more.
“The (top players) deserve a lot of credit, a lot of money, but Rory shouldn’t have an advantage over me in the FedEx Cup. If he wants $20 million purses and $100 million PIP money, take it. We don’t give a s – – t. I told Rory this. I said, ‘Beginning of the year, what’s your goal? Win the FedEx Cup, win majors, win three, four times? Do you know what 70 percent of the guys out here, their main goal is? To keep their job.’ He said, ‘Fair enough.’ We care about money – that comes with good play – but we’re more worried about keeping our job. Every year there’s five to 10 really good players that go back to Korn Ferry Tour that have been out here for a long time. Do you think Rory is worried about that? JT had the worst year he’ll ever have this year and finished 71st. That was a pretty great year for me last year. I had surgery and I was hurt but still managed four top-10s. To have the deck stacked against us – we’re losing points, money, starts, it feels like, who’s making these decisions?
“Then you have what Jay did to us and I don’t know how he still has his job at this point.”
Griffin took a breath long enough to be asked if he thought Monahan could regain the trust of players. He was doubtful.
“I’ve been so turned off and I think a lot of guys are, that when we get emails I don’t even open them. I don’t even read them. It’s so emotional. Them changing the FedEx Cup, changing the points, changing the elevated events, changing all this stuff in the middle of the season. It’s BS,” he said. “When you keep getting lied to and then the final straw was Canada when they threw that bomb on us. My doctor buddy sent me a screen shot and said, ‘Are you guys joining with the PIF?’ I wrote, ‘No chance. If Jay’s alive that will never happen. As long as he’s our commissioner, that will never happen.’ Five minutes later, we get the email (about the framework agreement to create a new commercial entity with the PIF). So my buddy knew about it before I did.
“It’s sad because the dream growing up was to play on the PGA Tour. It doesn’t feel that prestigious anymore. It feels more like a job. It’s become so politicized. It’s been frustrating for a lot of guys out here. Just the image of what we’re doing, but not much else we can do but show up and do our job and see if we can play well.”
Griffin had one more name he’d like to see fill McIlroy’s board seat and mused about the role.
“A guy like (Kevin) Streelman would be great for the board,” he said. “But seriously who would want this job? I wouldn’t want this job. It’s like being president of the United States. You’d have to be a full-on narcissist to want that job.”
Here is what some players have to say about a replacement.
