When PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan returns to the job following “a medical situation,” he will face an immense challenge to take the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund from concept to reality if he wants to tap into “north of a billion dollars” in investment. But he has an even bigger job to address — especially if he wants to keep his job — winning back the trust and confidence of his players.
Monahan, who has been recovering from an undisclosed medical issue that was announced on June 13, sent a memo to players last Friday informing them that he would be returning to the job on July 17. When he does so, he will have to address a membership who have used words such as “betrayed” to describe their outrage with the announcement that the PGA Tour had struck a secretive deal to form a commercial entity with Saudi Arabia’s PIF, the financial backer behind the rival LIV Golf League. Monahan has admitted that he comes off as a hypocrite for his about-face, but he will need to show more contrition to win back the trust of the players — if that is possible.
During his Wednesday press conference in North Berwick, Scotland, Xander Schauffele, the defending champion of the Genesis Scottish Open, confirmed that his level of trust in Monahan has taken a hit.
Scottish Open: Thursday tee times | Photos
“If you want to call it one of the rockier times on Tour, the guy that was supposed to be there for us, wasn’t. Obviously, he had some health issues. I’m glad that he said he’s feeling much better. But yeah, I’d say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return, and yeah, I don’t trust people easily. He had my trust and he has a lot less of it now. So I don’t stand alone when I say that,” Schauffele said. “Yeah, he’ll just have to answer our questions when he comes back.”
Schauffele recounted how on the morning of June 6, when the framework agreement was announced at 10 a.m. ET on CNBC, Schauffele was laying in bed with his French bulldog when his wife informed him of the news.
“I just remember laying there and I wanted to go back to bed, and then I was kind of like laying there, one eye (open), then my phone just started going off,” Schauffele said. “Unfortunately, I had to wake the little guy up and had to get my day started.”
Schauffele was asked if the news brought any peace and harmony to him.
“I would say peace and harmony is definitely the opposite of what the…
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