CROMWELL, Conn. — Two years ago at the Travelers Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sat behind an elevated desk and tried to project strength and resolve. He talked for roughly 40 minutes that day about a reworked, calendar-based schedule for the tour, massive purse increases at Signature Events and how challenging it is for players to earn a spot on the PGA Tour. With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) poaching stars and signing them to compete in LIV Golf, Monahan was trying to keep more of the PGA Tour’s stars from defecting and the rank-and-file golfers happy.
Wednesday morning, Monahan stood in front of the same desk instead of sitting behind it. Air-conditioning protected everyone from the sweltering conditions outside at TPC River Highlands. Reporters, holding audio recorders, encircled him.
Monahan spoke in a low, conversational voice. He was measured and controlled, and he stayed on brand. For just under 15 minutes, the head of the PGA Tour talked about the state of the PGA Tour. However, at the end of his chat with reporters, there were only a few things that we learned, and if golf fans were dreaming that rumors of a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announcing a deal soon could be true, Monahan did nothing to make that dream feel like a reality.
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Here are the most significant takeaways.
1. Negotiations with PIF are continuing in the background, not through the media
“I know (the media) are eager to know more,” Monahan said. “But I will go back to the meeting that we had just two Fridays ago in New York, when our entire transaction committee, including Tiger Woods and Adam Scott being in person and Rory dialing in from the Memorial Tourmament, alongside Yasir Al Rumyan, the governor of the PIF, and representatives of the PIF … it was a very productive discussion. As we said, progress was made and we continue to be in regular dialog. I had a 10 o’clock call this morning with the PIF and we’re doing that multiple times a week.”
Rumors that were floated last week on social media that a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF would be announced here this week proved false, and Monahan is clearly not going to talk about the specifics of the negotiations outside closed-door meetings.
“I’d like to give you more, but I would say to you that there are a lot of important aspects that we talked about in that meeting, aspects that will be important towards the final agreement that we…
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