Jay Monahan Short on Specifics But Says PGA Tour in ‘Driver’s Seat’ on Agreement With LIV Golf’s Backer
Jay Monahan remains confident that the PGA Tour will reach an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the DP World Tour by the end of the year, saying the Tour is in the “driver’s seat” and “in a position to control our future.”
At an hourlong news conference Tuesday in advance of this week’s season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake, the commissioner portrayed a positive outlook in light of what has been a trying year for him both professionally and personally.
Monahan, 53, has endured considerable criticism since the announcement of the "framework agreement" with the DP World Tour and the PIF on June 6 due to the confidential nature of the negotiations and most of the Tour membership learning of it at the last minute.
A week later, Monahan took a health leave from the Tour that he attributed to anxiety and returned to work July 17.
“When you go back to our framework agreement, we have put an end to the divisive and distracting litigation, we have safeguards that are in place to put the PGA Tour in a position to control our future,” Monahan said. “And as I sit here today, I am confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and our fans. I see it and I’m certain of it.”
How it looks, however, remains a mystery. Monahan would not get into any specifics about negotiations, which he said are ongoing. He would not speculate on what it means for the LIV Golf League, which is pushing forward with plans for 2024 and beyond. And when asked specifically about the end-of-year deadline, he would only say he is “confident we are going to reach a positive outcome for the PGA Tour.”
The way the “framework agreement” was laid out, the PGA Tour as it exists today would remain intact. PGA Tour Inc. is the nonprofit entity that governs the yearlong schedule that concludes this week with the Tour Championship and determining a FedEx Cup champion.
As part of the agreement, a new company would be formed called PGA Tour Enterprises. PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan—who would get a seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board alongside Tiger Woods—would be the chairman of the for-profit LLC, with Monahan as CEO.
The agreement called for the sides to do an evaluation of their various assets, including LIV Golf. How it would look is the subject of considerable speculation. The DP World Tour would figure in some way. LIV Golf could also, but likely as a reduced entity from the 14-tournament schedule it plays now.
The reason for the latter is if the two sides are to cooperate, in theory you’d need players from the PGA Tour and from LIV Golf supporting each side. Without that, it is possible LIV Golf could exist as it is going forward, although Monahan said initially he did not envision that.
Asked what he would say to those who take the cynical look that the framework agreement was done in order to drop litigation between the two sides, Monahan said:
“I would say that we operate in good faith and I see that on both sides. And that framework agreement, which is an agreement to reach an agreement, put us in a position to reach an agreement. Those safeguards that are in place and our commitment to moving from the divisive nature of the relationship we had to a productive one, for us to be able to make a fundamental transition to our business with the formation of NewCo [PGA Tour Enterprises], to have an investable entity for PIF to believe able to invest in that previously didn’t exist, for the PGA Tour to be in control of the future of men’s professional golf and for us to be partners, if we were going to end the litigation, we would have just announced that we were ending the litigation.”
Monahan said that Ron Price, COO of the PGA Tour, and Tyler Dennis, a vice president who attended the news conference with Monahan, are leading the talks with the PIF and the DP World Tour.
“We’re probably right where I expected we would be,” Monahan said. “Ron and I have been actively engaged weekly, multiple times a week, and aside from the aspects of the framework agreement that we’ve talked about, there’s just a lot of work streams that go into a deal like this between the PGA Tour, the PIF and the DP World Tour. So it progresses daily and it’s very positive and collaborative in nature.”
Monahan said a positive outcome for the PGA Tour involves partnering with the PIF and having it become a minority investor in PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit LLC, with the Tour maintaining operation control “of the PGA Tour and ultimately the men’s professional game going forward.”
He said that would allow the PGA Tour “to use the capital to be able to invest back in our product, to do things like further reduce commercial inventory in our broadcast, to further invest in our data businesses, to further invest in our media business, to potentially invest in entities and companies that we think are going to help us grow and diversify our fan base and the game.
“We’re not an organization that has the capital to invest, so to be able to be in that position and do that productively and constructively for the Tour and our players will impact the future.
“We have a responsibility to do that in addition to making this the strongest Tour it can possibly be. And I think it allows us to do both. So that to me is a successful outcome.”