Jay Monahan Says PGA Tour Will Compensate Non-LIV Defectors and Oppose Golf Ball Rollback in New Memo
In a wide-ranging memo with significant updates to players sent Wednesday evening, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the Tour is working to produce a “Player Benefit Program’’ that would reward those who did not defect to the LIV Golf League, while also announcing that the Tour would not be supporting a “Model Local Rule’’ that the governing bodies have proposed as a way to roll back the golf ball.
Monahan, who took a leave due to an undisclosed health matter a week after the shocking June 6 announcement that the Tour had entered into a “framework agreement’’ with the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia – which backs the LIV Golf League – said he feels “stronger than ever’’ and that he had concluded virtual PGA Tour Policy Board Meetings and Player Advisory Council Meetings earlier it the day.
Among the highlights of the memo obtained by Sports Illustrated:
- There has been considerable discussion about what the Tour might do to reward players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour and turned down significant sums offered by the LIV Golf League in the wake of the framework agreement with the PIF.
Monahan said the program, “should we reach a Definitive Agreement, will be financially significant in total and incremental in our planned compensation package.’’ He said more details will be forthcoming as they “determine how players from across the membership would benefit.’’
- Monahan also said the Tour has developed a task force that would develop “potential pathways back to the PGA Tour for LIV players who wish to reapply in the future.’’ Financial penalties or suspensions have been discussed for those wishing to come back. Monahan said that Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief tournaments and competitions officer, would head the task force along with Jason Gore, whose been promoted to “chief player officer’’ along with executive vice president and vice council Neera Shetty.
A “third-party special advisor’’ Colin Neville of the Raine Group has been appointed to help with communication between the Tour and players during a “complicated and time sensitive negotiation with the PIF,’’ Monahan said in the memo.
Neville’s name might be familiar to those following since the disclosure of a rival golf entity in early 2020 called the Premier Golf League. Neville and Andy Gardiner helped develop the plan for what would have been an 18-tournament league offering significant prize money and a 12-team, 48-player format. The Raine Group, along with a significantly less investment from the PIF, would have funded the project that had been discussed among players and agents for several yeas prior to being unveiled.
Several principals in the plan later broke away from the Premier League to form LIV Golf.
- Monahan said the Tour would not be supporting the proposed ball rollback introduced earlier this year by the USGA and R&A, golf’s governing bodies.
Although prominent players such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have come out publicly in favor of the proposed plan that would see a slight decrease in golf ball distance for elite players, the majority of the membership is against the idea, Monahan said, because “it is not warranted and not in the best interest of the game.’’
The proposed rule would not be in use for recreational players.
The new rule would not go into effect until 2026 and there is currently an on-going comment period that will conclude next month.
But it leaves open the possibility that players on the PGA Tour could be faced with using different golf balls in at least three of the major championships. Masters chairman Fred Ridley earlier this year said he supported the proposed rollback, which would in theory be implemented at the tournament, along with the U.S. Open and the British Open.
Last week at the Open, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said: “Our role, indeed our responsibility, is to do what is right for the sport when we reach out determination on the way forward,’’ Slumbers said last week during the R&A news conference prior to the Open. “All I really will say at this stage is that I would echo (USGA CEO) Mike Whan’s sentiments when I say that doing nothing it not an option.
The R&A released a statement Thursday: "We are currently in a notice and comment period where we are listening to views from throughout the golf industry. We appreciate the contributions we have received so far about the proposed Model Local Rule, including that of the PGA Tour.’’
The USGA also issued a statement Thursday: “We remain in a Notice & Comment period, accepting feedback from voices across the game. The PGA Tour is an important stakeholder and we appreciate the feedback they have contributed to this conversation.’’
- Monahan said that the 2024 PGA Tour schedule would be released the week of the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis with record prize funds to be announced. The PGA Tour is returning to a calendar-year schedule in 2024 with the season running from January through August.
- A search committee has been formed to final a replacement for Randall Stephenson, a former AT&T executive who served on the Policy Board for 12 years. Stephenson resigned his position on the board on July 9, citing the decision made by the Tour to enter into an agreement with the Saudi-backed PIF.
Monahan said in the memo that he has “fully recovered’’ and “is stronger than ever, committed to representing the bests interests of the PGA Tour and our members.
The PGA Tour’s commissioner since 2017, Monahan, 53, has offered no public comments since taking his leave on June 13 and returning to work on July 17. He said he plans to attend next week’s Wyndham Championship and a players meeting on Aug. 8 in Memphis.