PGA Tour Commissioner: Following the shocking end to the golf industry’s civil war, Jay Monahan acknowledged that he will be branded a hypocrite and that players who turned down millions of dollars to join LIV Golf may receive compensation.
Following the start of the Saudi-sponsored series, the men’s professional game saw a year of extraordinary turmoil before the unexpected news of the merging of the commercial operations of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf.
According to Tour Advisory Council member Johnson Wagner, “PGA Tour commissioner Monahan faced calls for his resignation at a players’ meeting that he described as ‘intense and certainly heated,’ with his prior statements that anyone who took LIV money would never play on the PGA Tour again cited and applauded.”
“I understand that I’ll get called a hypocrite,” Monahan remarked. “Whenever I’ve said something, I’ve done it based on the knowledge I had at the time and on someone who is attempting to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.
“I acknowledge those comments, but situations may change, and I believe that focusing on the larger picture is what brought us to this point.
“I’m certain that the players who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour made the correct choice, even if it probably didn’t feel that way to them.
“They assisted in re-architecting the PGA Tour’s future and helped us move towards a more competitive format. We made huge investments in our company in 2023, and we’ll make more in ’24.”
The players’ instant response to learning that the three circuits would be combining was a combination of astonishment and betrayal.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were the PGA Tour’s strongest advocates in its spat with LIV Golf, but neither knew about the unexpected agreement that was revealed on Tuesday.
The biggest names were PGA Tour player Rory McIlroy, who was scheduled to speak to the media for the first time since the merger was announced on Wednesday at a press conference held after the pro-am competition held in advance of this week’s RBC Canadian Open.
When asked if players like McIlroy and Tiger Woods would receive compensation for declining rich offers to stay on the PGA Tour, or if those who accepted payments to join LIV Golf would be required to repay that money, Monahan acknowledged that such issues were still up for discussion.
Monahan asserted that they will be the only meaningful discussions that will take place. In the end, everything must be taken into account.
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