PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan tapped the brakes last week on speculation that a potential deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is imminent, due to the complicated nature of the discussions.
Speaking with reporters at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, Monahan followed up on a recent PGA Tour Policy Board meeting after various reports suggesting the two parties were on the verge of signing a new agreement.
“People seem to think that there are things that are happening that aren’t happening, but ultimately we’re the arbiters of that,” Monahan said. “I understand there’s a lot of attention and … there’s going to be a lot of opinions and there are probably going to be a lot of rumors. … We’re focused on trying to get to the right outcome – the right outcome for our players, for our fans, for the game of golf – and that’s where our focus is.”
Monahan cited a recent in-person meeting with PIF officials including fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and members of the PGA Tour Enterprises transactions committee and said it helped push the process forward.
The investment and influence of the Strategic Sports Group has altered the landscape since the June 6 “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour and the PIF was announced last year.
“I would say that the framework agreement is still relevant,” Monahan said. “There are aspects of it that certainly continue to be in play. But I would put it more back towards we’ve kind of stepped back; we’ve all stepped back and we started anew. And particularly with the introduction of the transaction committee, our players’ involvement, and I would say that … the vast majority of what we’re talking about, we’re building from the ground up.
Keyur Khamar, PGA Tour via Getty Images
Tournament officials at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan, made a big play to gather some of the game’s emerging talent.
The tournament, which has an unfortunate spot on the schedule in following two signature events and the U.S. Open and lacks any of the top 10 players in the world, extended sponsor exemptions to four recent college stars plus an emerging junior who will be making his PGA Tour debut.
Neal Shipley, a recent Ohio State graduate who made his professional debut last week on the PGA Tour Americas after having won low-amateur honors at the Masters and U.S. Open, accepted exemptions with Auburn’s Jackson Koivun, who swept college golf’s player-of-the-year honors as a freshman for the NCAA-champion Tigers, plus Florida State junior Luke Clanton and Virginia junior Ben James, both of whom competed in the U.S. Open. Miles Russell, a 15-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, will make his PGA Tour debut two months after he became the youngest player to make a cut on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour.
Also, Michael Thorbjornsen, who made his professional debut last week at the Travelers Championship after topping the PGA Tour University Ranking, is entered. Play begins Thursday at Detroit Golf Club. READ MORE
Two changes were made to the “signature events” for 2025, the tour announced. The field size was set at a minimum of 72 players, and a sponsor exemption for lifetime achievement – 80 or more victories – was established to allow Tiger Woods a chance to play in the elite $20 million events. “As an organization, we wanted to celebrate his exceptionalism,” commissioner Jay Monahan said. READ MORE
Rory McIlroy, who squandered a chance to end a 10-year major-championship drought with two missed short putts in his final three holes at the recent U.S. Open, pointed to his “resilience” and vowed on social media that he will bounce back. McIlroy does not intend to return to competition until next month’s Genesis Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA and DP World tours and precedes the Open Championship. READ MORE
Sparked by the showdown between eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau and ill-fated runner-up Rory McIlroy, viewership of the final round of the U.S. Open on June 16 averaged 5.9 million and peaked at 10.8 million on NBC. Though the audience was down slightly from last year’s prime-time final round of the Open at Los Angeles Country Club on the West Coast, the numbers from the Open at Pinehurst were the highest in 11 years for an East Coast-hosted Open, Sports Media Watch reported. READ MORE
The Memorial Tournament will return to its traditional calendar slot on Memorial Day weekend next year, two weeks before the U.S. Open, tournament host Jack Nicklaus said in a statement. The 2025 Memorial will be played May 29-June 1 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Nicklaus said during this year’s Memorial, a $20 million signature event which was played June 6-9 and immediately preceded the U.S. Open, that he accommodated the tour because of a compressed schedule during an Olympics year but preferred to have the event on Memorial Day weekend. READ MORE
Hideki Matsuyama will join the Boston Common team of Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott for the launch of the tech-infused, prime-time golf league TGL early next year, the PGA Tour announced. READ MORE
TAP-INS
The 60 spots for women’s golf at the Paris Olympics will be finalized today with the updated Women’s Olympic Golf Ranking after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the final qualifying event. Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang – all among the top 10 in the world – were locks for the American team, which will be the only nation with more than two entrants. The women’s golf will be played August 7-10 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, west of Paris. READ MORE
Four players earned Open Championship exemptions through their results at the Kolon Korea Open and the KLM Open via the R&A’s Open Qualifying Series. South Korea’s Minkyu Kim won his national open, joining countryman runner-up Younghan Song in earning spots in the 152nd Open, set for July 18-21 at Royal Troon in Scotland. From the DP World Tour, Italy’s Guido Migliozzi, who won the KLM Open in a playoff, and co-runner-up Joe Dean of England punched their tickets to Royal Troon. Here is the list of Open exemptions. READ MORE and MORE
Competitors will have an extra 15 minutes to correct their scorecards before the round is to be deemed official under a change recently adopted by the USGA, the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson reported. Scorecards had been deemed to be official when a player left the scoring area. Earlier this year, Jordan Spieth was disqualified for a scoring misstep at the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational, renewing calls for change. Michael Kim posted a memo to PGA Tour players that outlined the changes. READ MORE
Last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA increased its purse to $10.4 million, bumping the LPGA Tour’s 2024 prize fund to a record $125 million. With a winner’s check of $1.56 million, the Women’s PGA is the sixth LPGA tournament to feature a seven-figure payment to the champion. READ MORE
Dick’s Open, a fixture on the Champions Tour since 2007, will continue to be held at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York, through at least 2029 after a five-year title-sponsorship extension with Dick’s Sporting Goods was announced. READ MORE
The developmental Epson Tour will debut the Great Lakes Championship on June 13-15, 2025, at The Highlands in Harbor Springs, Michigan, the LPGA announced. READ MORE
Compiled by Ron Green Jr. and Steve Harmon