PGA Tour boss provides LIV Golf merger update after Phil Mickelson's sack demand
Jay Monahan has defended his decision to bring the PGA Tour together with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), with pressure continuing to grow on the commissioner.
Monahan is the man at the centre of the framework agreement currently being negotiated by the PGA Tour and PIF, which will see the American-based circuit end their feud with the LIV Golf. The agreement announcement came as a shock to many in June, and since then the Tour commissioner has faced criticism for his Saudi u-turn.
Monahan however is more than confident in the decisions he has made. "People have made far more consequential decisions than the one that I've made and ultimately, the one that we're going to make,” he said at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
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“You have to look out over the horizon, you have to believe in your heart of hearts that what you're committing to is the right decision. And you have to be willing to take all the criticism, and there has been a lot of it, and it will continue to be more.”
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One of his biggest critics has been LIV loyalist Phil Mickelson, and he reinstated this point when calling on Monahan to step aside from his position on social media earlier this week. "In addition to strong arming LIV players, losing trust with his players, and all credibility with his staff, golf is in this situation entirely because of him," Mickelson tweeted.
"There’s no unity or path forward with him involved in my opinion as well." Monahan's role continue's to be an important one though, and on Wednesday revealed he would be meeting with PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan with the framework agreement's December 31 deadline looming.
Phil Mickelson criticised Jay Monahan on social media (Getty Images)"The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target," Monahan commented. "I'll be with Yasir next week. And we continue to advance our conversations. And I think it's pretty well known that there's a large number of other interested parties that we're also pushing to think about.”
Doubts have been cast over golf's proposed peace treaty in recent weeks, with a number of other entities interested in working with the Tour aside from PIF, including Fenway Sports Group. Monahan though does see a future where all parties can be involved in the circuit's for-profit entity.
He added: "When this gets finalised. the PGA Tour is going to be in a position that … the athletes are owners in their sport, and you've got not only the PIF, but you've likely got another co-investor, with significant experience in business, in sport and brand that's going to help take the PGA Tour to another level and help us take share from other sports and even be more competitive.”
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