Jay Monahan didn’t take long to signal to PGA Tour players that he hears them.
One week after his return to work from an undisclosed five-week medical absence in the wake of his stunning deal with the Saudis, Monahan sent a two-page memo to players that outlines three key points regarding their future:
players who remained on the PGA Tour in the wake of defections to LIV Golf will be paid for their loyalty;
LIV Golf rebels will be provided with a “pathway” back to the PGA Tour;
and, perhaps most significantly, that the PGA Tour will side with strong player sentiment and not follow the USGA and R&A in the governing bodies’ proposal for a modified-flight ball to be used by touring pros and elite amateurs in an effort to tamp down on distance gains.
Speaking at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, Tony Finau applauded the tour for “taking a stand on the rollback of the golf ball,” adding: “My opinion has always been that we should have our own rulebook on the PGA Tour.”
As Ron Green wrote in a report for GGP+, the PGA Tour’s rebuttal of the proposed rollback creates “a dramatic step, sure to further fuel the polarizing discussion about distance in the modern game.” The potential exists for a different type of ball to be used in the USGA and R&A’s two major events, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, respectively, and possibly even the Masters after host Augusta National reiterated its support for the governing bodies. READ MORE
Two weeks after PGA Tour representatives faced a Senate inquiry regarding the tour’s proposed deal with the Saudis, a senator has introduced legislation to remove the tour’s tax-exempt status. “An organization that betrays its own word and agrees to become a profit generator for Saudi Arabia’s brutal regime has disqualified itself for a tax exemption,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who introduced two bills in his chamber that would target tax breaks for the tour and the Saudis. The news comes one month after a House Democrat introduced similar legislation in Congress targeting the tour’s 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status. READ MORE
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund that entered a proposed business deal with the PGA Tour, has been asked to testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Al-Rumayyan declined to appear before the senators on July 11 when PGA Tour representatives Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne faced a nearly three-hour inquiry about the proposal. READ MORE
Defending champion Tom Kim withdrew from this week’s Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s final regular-season event, to return home to South Korea for treatment on his injured right ankle. Kim tore ligaments when he mis-stepped in the yard of his rental house after the first round of the recent Open Championship. Kim remained in the tournament, ultimately tying for second place. Kim, 21, who is 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 14th in the FedEx Cup standings, is assured a spot in next week’s playoff opener in Memphis, Tennessee. READ MORE
Three days after having been accused of cheating in a PGA Tour Canada tournament, American Justin Doeden confessed on Twitter, writing: “I cheated in golf” and asking for forgiveness.
Doeden, 28, who turned pro in 2018 after playing his last two college seasons at Minnesota, changed his score on the final hole after signing his scorecard, apparently making the cut on the number during the second round of the Commissionaires Ottawa Open. Two playing competitors questioned Doeden’s posted score and alerted officials, according to a story by Ryan French at Mondayq.com. Doeden subsequently withdrew. READ MORE
R&A CEO Martin Slumbers told the golf media during the recent Open Championship that he would not rule out Saudi investment in his organization, which governs the game worldwide except for the U.S. and Mexico, so his next move should come as no surprise: He met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who oversees the oil-rich nation’s sovereign wealth fund.
The R&A confirmed the meeting, which was brokered by U.K. power broker Amanda Staveley, first reported by James Corrigan of London’s Telegraph newspaper and held on July 23 at Royal Liverpool. It was the first time that Al-Rumayyan, whose Public Investment Fund has bankrolled upstart LIV Golf, has been welcomed at one of the game’s four major championships.
The Saudis’ PIF recently entered into a framework agreement with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to create a for-profit entity that would operate separately from the not-for-profit PGA Tour. Those negotiations are ongoing.
The R&A, which administers the Open Championship, has struggled to keep up with the rapidly growing prize funds in professional golf as LIV Golf has raised the ante. Despite having raised the Open purse by $2.5 million this year, to $16.5 million, golf’s oldest major championship still ranks a distant fourth among the four majors and trails the 12 “designated” events offering $20 million or more on the PGA Tour. READ MORE
KEYUR KHAMAR, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES
TAP-INS
The number of rounds played in the U.S. rose 5.5 percent in June compared with the same month last year, according to the National Golf Foundation’s monthly “Rounds Played Report.” For the first half of 2023, the number of rounds played also is up 5.5 percent compared with the first six months of 2022 as the trend of increased play continues from the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE
NBC’s broadcast of the final round of the recent Open Championship, when Harman cruised to a six-stroke victory, attracted 3.35 million viewers, a 26-percent drop from the final round of last year’s Open, according to Sports TV Ratings. READ MORE
The DP World Tour added two fall tournaments to its 2023 schedule, with each offering a $3.25 million purse. The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters will be played October 19-22 at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Spain, one week after the Spanish Open in Madrid. The tour also added the Qatar Masters for October 26-29 at Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital. READ MORE
Joe Lewis, the British billionaire whose Tavistock Group built the Orlando-area Isleworth and Lake Nona communities that became home to many of golf’s biggest stars, pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to insider-trading charges. Prosecutors allege that Lewis, 86, used his access to corporate board rooms to feed information to romantic partners, personal assistants, friends and pilots of his jet, in violation of securities law. Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club in England’s Premier League, was released on $300 million bail and must remain in the U.S. READ MORE
Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, a senior from Wellesley, Massachusetts, debuted last week at No. 1 in the PGA Tour University’s preseason ranking for the 2023-24 college season. The top-ranked player at the end of the spring season will earn fully exempt status on the PGA Tour, with lesser status on the tour or its developmental circuits for Nos. 2-20. READ MORE
The inaugural St. Andrews Links Collegiate will be played this fall in Scotland, organizers announced. The tournament, to be held October 23-25 on St. Andrews’ Jubilee and Old courses, will feature the men’s and women’s teams from four American universities: Georgetown, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. NBC Sports will offer live coverage on Golf Channel and Peacock in the U.S., and Sky Sports will air the tournament in the U.K. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon