PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | It didn’t take a body language expert to appreciate the vibe coming from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan during his annual pre-tournament media session Tuesday at the Players Championship.
Monahan eschewed the coat and tie for a vest and an open-neck shirt. After leaning forward to deliver his opening remarks, Monahan spent the bulk of the 45-minute question-and-answer session reclining in his chair behind the table at the front of the room.
Unlike the past two years when Monahan appeared more defensive, he was relaxed and sounded like a business leader who felt empowered even if he relied more on generalities than specifics while taking various forms of the same question about the status of the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund toward an agreement to reunite professional golf.
Without saying it quite so directly, Monahan made it clear in his opening statement that while the negotiations with the PIF remain open, the PGA Tour has made its position clear and it’s up to PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan to determine where things go from here.
While confirming there are no face-to-face meetings scheduled between the two sides at the moment, Monahan reiterated a desire to reunify the fractured game but not at the expense of the PGA Tour.
“We appreciate Yasir’s innovative vision, and we can see a future where we welcome him onto our board and work together to move the global game forward. As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together,” Monahan said.
“That said, we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners. So while we’ve removed some hurdles, others remain. But like our fans, we still share the same sense of urgency to get to a resolution.
“Our team is fully committed to reunification. The only deal that we would regret is one that compromises the essence of what makes the game of golf and the PGA Tour so exceptional.”
Near the end of the Tuesday morning session, Monahan was asked what he meant by saying he would not accept any deal that would diminish the strength of the PGA Tour. His response suggested the team golf issue remains a stumbling block.
Despite multiple inquiries about the potential roadblocks in making a deal that has been under formal negotiations for nearly two years – the biggest of which is said to be LIV Golf’s insistence on making team play a part of any deal – Monahan deflected the questions like Rafael Nadal defending the net.
He gave similar versions of the same answer so many times, Monahan even poked fun at himself when asked about his memories from five years ago when the Players Championship was canceled after 18 holes because of the emerging pandemic.
“Listen, I shared our priorities …” Monahan started his answer before acknowledging the joke.
Near the end of the Tuesday morning session, Monahan was asked what he meant by saying he would not accept any deal that would diminish the strength of the PGA Tour. His response suggested the team golf issue remains a stumbling block.
“These tournaments are 72-hole stroke-play tournaments at historic, iconic venues, with moments like we had last Sunday with Russell Henley and his family (at the Arnold Palmer Invitational). That’s who we are as an organization, and that’s who we’ll always be as an organization,” Monahan said.
There have been reports that the optimism that came from a first meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House in early February was tempered by a second meeting late last month, a notion Monahan seemed to accept by saying complex negotiations typically have “ebbs and flows.”
This is the third consecutive year Monahan’s media session has revolved around the LIV issue and, beyond the negotiating table, a sense of fatigue has set in among many.
“I think we’re kind of like past the level of exhaustion,” Justin Thomas said.
“We’re committed to these negotiations and there will be a day when we can specifically talk about the end result and how that’s been addressed …” – Jay Monahan
Monahan’s session covered more than LIV. He pointed to an increasing emphasis on improving broadcasts of tour events, focusing on more action and player stories, and he revealed new pace-of-play initiatives.
The tour will begin publishing pace-of-play statistics later this year (though he did not specify when) and will implement stricter guidelines – including stroke penalties – on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas in April.
Additionally, Monahan said players and caddies will be allowed to use rangefinders at six tour events between the Masters and PGA Championship as it evaluates whether to allow them at all events.
Still, the questions kept returning to the same subject that has consumed the pro game for the past three years – what happens next?
“We’re committed to these negotiations and there will be a day when we can specifically talk about the end result and how that’s been addressed hopefully, but right now I’ve given you exactly what our focus areas are,” Monahan said.
Next question, please.