PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Had he not expired 40-odd years ago, Will Durant would have enjoyed Jay Monahan’s performance Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass in advance of the 2024 Players Championship. “To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy,” the historian once observed, and the PGA Tour commissioner gave an artful demonstration of that in his first press conference since saying, well, not much, at the Tour Championship more than six months ago.
There’s a subtle difference between not being expansive in one’s answers and being evasive, and Monahan wasn’t the latter. For the most part, he was clear on what he wasn’t going to address and why, chiefly questions involving the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. After an hour of parrying, it was clear that he will offer specifics on the future only when they’re agreed in their entirety — like Durant, Monahan seemingly subscribes to a philosophy of “the perspective of the whole” — and not piecemeal updates as issues are still being litigated in private.
The commissioner manages a lengthy list of constituencies, the ranking of their importance changing depending on who is calling. A rough priority list would look something like this: star players, investment partners, rank-and-file members, sponsors, broadcast partners, tournament organizers. Fans fit in there too, somewhere. Tuesday, Monahan was at pains to suggest they’re near the top.
“I want to speak directly to our fans, our most important constituent, and ones that maybe haven’t felt their voices heard lately,” he said. “All of this talk about investment and growth, I want you to know that we’re focusing that energy on bringing forth the most competitive and entertaining Tour possible for you. It’s my commitment and it’s our players’ commitment.”
No particulars were offered on what improvements might be coming for the end-users of Monahan’s product, but an open accounting of shortcomings in that product was at least a welcome start.
More: 5 things PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said at his State of the Tour press conference
There were, however, a couple questions that Hockey Jay skated around. One involved what a return on investment would look like for Strategic Sports Group, which recently poured $1.5 billion into the Tour’s new for-profit entity. This was Monahan’s response: “The more that we can do to increase fandom, to bring our…
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