PGA Tour's Jay Monahan on Saudi agreement: 'The right move'

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stands behind the Tour's stunning agreement with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, although he now expresses regrets about how it was announced in June.

“Ultimately, the rollout on June 6 was ineffective,” Monahan said in a Wednesday meeting with reporters in Memphis prior to the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. “It was ineffective, and as a result, there was a lot of misinformation. I think anytime there’s misinformation that can lead to mistrust, and that’s my responsibility.”

Although negotiations for the agreement began weeks before its June 6 announcement, even star players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy received only a few hours' notice. The result was a player contingent that was livid with Monahan and enraged at the thought that LIV Golf defectors might have an easy pathway back onto the Tour. Monahan accepted the criticism at the time, but now is looking to redirect that rage into understanding of what he says are the economic realities of golf today.

"Ultimately it was the right move for the PGA Tour," he said of the agreement. "I firmly believe that as we go forward time will bear that out. It was the right move and obviously we’re now in a position with NewCo that provides the opportunity to have productive conversations."

"NewCo" is the working-title name of the new company to be formed from the boards of the PGA Tour and the PIF, and NewCo is already up against a self-imposed deadline of Jan. 1 to negotiate the finer points of the agreement between the two entities. The organization will need to survive federal government scrutiny as well as the approval of the Tour's players, who have — at least by title — been granted more authority. Still, Monahan expressed optimism that the agreement would come to fruition as planned.

"When we’re sitting down at some point at the end of this year and these conversations have been completed, I fully expect that that’s where we’ll be, but I understand we’re a long way away between where we are today and that point," he said, "but I’m determined and inspired to get there on behalf of and for our players and for our fans."

Monahan led a Tuesday night players' meeting in Memphis that was light on both substance and attendance. With a few weeks' distance from the shock of the announcement, multiple players have thrown their support behind the reigning commissioner.

“I think Jay is a very qualified leader for our organization. Without Jay Monahan, I don't know if we make it through COVID,” reigning British Open champion Brian Harman said. “I think Jay deserves a pretty long leash.”

Still, there's a long way to go, as 2021 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler noted:

“You have the framework agreement, which nobody is entirely sure what that means, and then you've got whatever they're working towards,” Scheffler said. “We still don't really have a great idea as to what is going on right now.”