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Thursday 10 augusT 2023
Jay Monahan says PGA Tour, Saudi deal is on the right path in 1st
remarks since taking medical leave
By Dough Ferguson tional wealth fund and the
Associated Press European tour was keep-
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — ing players in the dark.
Back to full health, Com- “I put players on their
missioner Jay Monahan back foot,” he said. “That’s
said Wednesday the PGA something I regret and will
Tour is on the right path to not do again.”
finalize a deal with the Sau- Monahan was short on de-
di backers of LIV Golf and tails of the proposed agree-
that whether he’s the best ment with the media and
person to lead the tour will with players in his first for-
depend on the results. mal meeting with them on
Monahan spoke publicly Tuesday afternoon mainly
for the first time since he because negotiations are
returned to work July 17, ongoing. Tour officials met
having stepped away for with the Public Investment
five weeks with what he Fund last weekend.
described as anxiety that He was bullish that a deal
had been building up over would get done by the
time. end of the year, and that
He said his only regret in a PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a news conference before the Travelers the PGA Tour is not consid-
proposed business partner- Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, in Cromwell, Conn., June 22, 2022. ering any outside investors
ship with Saudi Arabia’s na- (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) at the moment.
“Our focus is on conver-
sations with PIF,” he said,
adding later that he was
“determined to get this
right.” He said a definitive
agreement by the end of
the year “is the target and
that is realistic.”
“There is the short term and
there is the long term. Look-
ing out over the horizon,
we feel like this is the right
move for the PGA Tour to
create a new commercial
model that allows PIF to in-
vest ... and to be able to
grow the PGA Tour that will
reward players and fans.
“That’s what we think is the
right path forward.”
As for his health, Monahan
said there were no guaran-
tees he would return when
he stepped away on June
13. The timing was difficult.
Monahan had announced
the Saudi agreement
on June 6 and met with
players in Canada that
evening. He described
that meeting as “intense”
among reports some play-
ers wanted him to resign.
Monahan said his person-
ality is “run into conflict,
not away from it.” But his
health left him no choice
but to step away.
“The reality for me was that
I was dealing with anxiety,
which created physical
and mental health issues
and challenges for me,”
Monahan said. “I needed
to step away and deal
with that.”q
