A frustrated Tom Watson says he is still waiting for answers from the PGA Tour over the proposed merger with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), adding it was a “huge mistake” to do the deal without any player involvement.
Watson wrote an open letter to Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour in June shortly after the shock news, in which he posed several questions about the future and was critical of the deal being done without any players being involved.
The golfing legend is still waiting for answers to those questions, and is still unhappy with the deal as it is “a complete departure of where I thought the Tour should go.”
“The sad thing about it, is the questions in that letter haven’t been answered,” Watson told the 5 Clubs Podcast. “Not a single one. We’re waiting for answers. I can’t comment on it until we get the answers.”
The eight-time Major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member is also pushing for greater player involvement in the decisions to come as Monahan and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan look to flesh out the framework agreement they have in place.
Tiger Woods joining the Policy Board is part of that, with Monahan now accepting he handled the PIF deal badly and now trying to win back the trust of the players by being more open.
And that’s something Watson is happy to see as he found it unacceptable that players had been left out of discussions previously – with that needing to change going forward.
Tiger Woods is now on the PGA Tour Policy Board
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I think the Board needed a restructuring so that the players had voting power because this is a players’ organisation,” Watson added.
“This organisation went outside of the due process. It wasn’t transparent at all. There were no players involved at all in the negotiations with PIF and Yasir.
“That was a huge mistake and I think the players thought so too. A single player needed to be involved in that, at least.
“We have people that are making decisions that really shaping the future of PGA Tour golf and without player participation in those decisions, we’re going in the wrong direction.”
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