With the PGA Tour’s command performance in front of a Senate subcommittee now in the rearview mirror and commissioner Jay Monahan returning to work today after one month away for undisclosed medical reasons, the path forward for professional golf remains murky.
Given the Open Championship’s proximity this week to downtown Liverpool where the Beatles began changing modern culture 60 years ago, it’s tempting to suggest the next few months could be a magical mystery tour, but it doesn’t feel so magical, just mysterious.
There is a sense of urgency to constructing what is intended to be professional golf’s new working model, one that still must pass muster with the Department of Justice and, perhaps, the Senate subcommittee members who grilled PGA Tour chief operating officer Ron Price and Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne last week.
And, of course, it must satisfy the PGA Tour players, many of whom continue to express their understandable frustration about what they don’t know. It’s a necessary byproduct of the unexpected agreement between the tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Although the players’ collective temperature may have cooled a bit, there is still plenty of selling that must be done.
According to a person close to the process, the goal is to have an agreement reached within 60 days. That seems ambitious given all that seemingly must be done.
Even as Price and Dunne were testifying before the Senate – they handled a challenging moment deftly – representatives from the tour and the PIF have been meeting, trying to structure the details of whatever the future might look like.
Before that, there is a 2024 PGA Tour schedule to be released, one that’s essentially finalized and will look very much like the one being played this year. The big changes, assuming there are some, will come down the line.
Knowing that regulators and legislators are watching closely only adds to the challenge of finding a peaceful solution to golf’s civil war. There was a sense coming out of the Senate hearing that the proposed agreement could move forward, but there are no assurances it’s going to happen as proposed.
The 267-page document released as part of the Senate hearing last week revealed many things, including what amounted to a wish list from the PIF. The most comical was getting both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to play 10 LIV events per season. The oft-injured Woods can’t play 10 events, period, and McIlroy reiterated his disdain for LIV last week when he said that if it were the last place on earth to play golf, he would retire.
For a guy who’s trying to steer clear of the noise, McIlroy knows how to pick his moments.
Monahan is walking back into a difficult situation this week, but he is central to the process. He will fight for the tour maintaining its power and place atop the professional game.
He faces a trust issue with many players, who didn’t like being blindsided by the agreement after months of hearing how bad LIV and the PIF were for golf.
Monahan does, however, have the support of the tour’s Policy Board. Although the players are angry, an insider said no player has come directly to leadership demanding that Monahan be replaced.
Assure the players – even those who don’t sell any tickets or drive any ratings but feel entitled to their share of golf’s riches – that they are going to make more money, and the complaining will slow to a drip. Players who believe they should all be paid like NFL players should look at the television ratings for both sports.
In the weeks since the shocking announcement, it has become clear why the PGA Tour changed its stance: It didn’t have much choice. Financially, the tour was going to run out of money by fighting the PIF in court, and there was a real chance that more players were going to LIV.
Sponsors were going to question the value of their investment if the talent pool declined and, if they chose to, the Saudis could increase their investment in LIV. More and more, it looked like an unwinnable battle for the PGA Tour in the long run.
Having agreed to work together, the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF have taken the first step. How much their visions for the future of professional golf match could determine whether this works or it doesn’t.
With Price confirming during the Senate hearing that the PIF intends to invest a minimum of $1 billion into their joint operating arrangement, it’s clear that PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will have a strong say in what happens going forward. But if the price is making the PGA Tour look more like LIV, that would be unfortunate.
Adding a team element to what the tour already offers has no appeal. LIV supporters can argue that fans love their teams, but they’re trying to convince themselves because the vast majority of fans are apathetic to the contrived competition.
Among the pressing matters is how to compensate players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour and how to deal with those who took LIV’s money, many of whom sued the PGA Tour.
There are two task forces working on the matter, one focusing on the tour loyalists, the other trying to work out a path back for those who left. It will be nice if all the top players are together again, but the tour can’t just let the defectors come in with no penalty.
Some, such as Phil Mickelson, may find returning to be more difficult than others.
And, if it doesn’t work, what happens then?
Ultimately, it’s about money and power, like most other things.
It’s been easy to take the romantic approach that golf is different, that it’s about something bigger than money.
It’s time to find out how much, if any, of that is true.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Jay Monahan walks back into a difficult situation, and he is central to the process of completing a deal.
RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES