PGA Tour: Jay Monahan in crucial meeting before deal deadline

Jay Monahan will meet Yasir Al-Rumayyan next week as deadline day looms.

The PGA Tour’s chief executive says the December 31 cut-off to strike a deal with the Public Investment Fund is still “a firm target.”

Monahan discussed the tour’s talks with LIV Golf’s primary investors at The New York Times DealBook Summit.

The PGA Tour boss and the PIF’s governor announced the stunning framework agreement in a TV interview on June 6 which was kept hidden from the players.

“We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” Monahan said. “The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target. I’ll be with Yasir next week.

“And we continue to advance our conversations. And I think it’s pretty well known that there’s a large number of other interested parties that we’re also pushing to think about.

“When this gets finalised, the PGA Tour is going to be in a position that I talked about earlier, where again, the athletes are owners in their sport.

“And you’ve got not only the PIF, but you’ve likely got another co-investor, with significant experience in business, in sport and brand that’s going to help take the PGA Tour to another level and help us take share from other sports and even be more competitive.”

At the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods said they would like a deal done by New Year’s Eve, having joined the PGA Tour’s Policy Board as a player director in August.

Like Monahan, Woods also said there are “multiple options” within the talks, possibly referring to private equity candidates such as Fenway Sports Group.

Time away from the PGA Tour: Jay Monahan discusses his absence

Monahan came under fire from players who felt betrayed by his actions during a meeting with tour members at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

A week had barely passed after the announcement when the 53-year-old temporarily left his role as commissioner until July 17.

Anxiety was the reason for his absence and at the time, Monahan accepted people could call him “a hypocrite” for negotiating with a group that financially backs LIV Golf which he suspended players for transferring to.

“I think what’s happening to me in my head around that timeframe was not too dissimilar to what was happening to me in my head in the months prior to it,” Monahan added in New York.

“This had been an extended conflict. It had affected me, my mental and my physical health.

“I know I’m the first person to run into a fight. Anybody who knows me will tell you that. And I knew the perception was that I was running away from a fight. And that was excruciating. That hurt me to my core.

“You’ll hear people talk a lot about ‘I focus on the things I can control.’ I wasn’t doing a good job of that. I was confusing that. I am fully focused on the things I control.

“And so, you have to realise that it’s part of life, it’s part of who I am, it’s my truth. And I am a work in progress. And I’m just every single day trying to improve.”

NOW READ: Monahan, merger and Ryder Cup captaincy: Tiger Woods spoke about the lot…

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Matt Chivers

Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.

Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.

Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.

Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spent time with some of the biggest names in the sport.

Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.

What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.