When will LIV players return to the PGA Tour? Jay Monahan admits he doesn't have an answer
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan admitted that he gave a non-answer.
But it was the biggest question that will remain on everyone’s mind until a final agreement is reached between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund that will end the war between the Tour and the LIV Golf League: when can the former Tour members who defected to LIV return and under what conditions?
Monahan spoke on Tuesday at his annual State of the PGA Tour address he gives each year during the week of the Tour Championship, at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
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And while he said he was “certain” a final agreement between the two sides will be reached by the end of the year, he had nothing to offer about the future for players such as Cameron Smith of Ponte Vedra Beach, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Talor Gooch.
“These are the kind of topics and discussions that we’re having right now with PIF,” Monahan said. “So to be able to project what’s going to happen, I don’t have an answer today and when we complete our discussions, we’ll have an answer for that question. So that’s a non-answer, but that’s my position.”
The issue has simmered since June 6 when Monahan released the news — prematurely and without informing players — that the two sides were working towards a “framework agreement” and ended all legal action taken against each other.
Sticky and complicated financial issues are one thing. What fans want to know is when they can see players such as Smith, Johnson and perhaps even a 53-year-old Phil Mickelson prowl the fairways at PGA Tour events again.
But Monahan was adamant about not revealing specifics until negotiations have concluded.
“I’m not going to talk publicly about [issues with LIV players] until we’ve completed those discussions and I can answer that question specifically and directly,” he said.
Monahan sounded as if an agreement with the PIF is just a matter of time.
“As I sit here today, I am confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and our fans,” Monahan said. “I see it and I’m certain of it.”
Monahan says he’s healthy
Another issue Monahan addressed was his health. He stepped away from the Tour for five weeks and admitted that anxiety was part of the problem.
Anyone could feel empathy: since Monahan, 53, took over as commissioner in 2017, he’s had to deal with guiding the Tour through a pandemic and the existential threat posed by LIV Golf.
“I would put it this way: I have never felt better mentally and physically than I feel right now,” Monahan said. ”Obviously I had to take some steps to go from where I was to this position. But I’m a work in progress … I’m working on the things that I’ve learned that are going to help me in my life and help me in this role, and that’s something – like it is out here for our players, that’s something I have to work on every single day.”
Blank buys TGL team
Maybe Jaguars owner Shad Khan will take notice.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has purchased one of the six teams in the tech-driven TGL golf league, which was launched by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and will launch in January at an indoor facility in Palm Beach Gardens.
Blank, who also owns the PGA Tour Superstore chain (and Home Depot), said in a statement that he was attracted by the potential of TGL to add fans with its blend of technology and live action in a prime-time weekly format.
Each team will have three PGA Tour players. A draft has not yet been held.
“The players are excited about it,” Blank said. “It’s a different format for them and this will be fun for them. ... If it’s fun for the players, it will be fun for the viewers.”
Blank said his team will have a Georgia flair to it, down to using the red and black colors of the Falcons, his soccer team, Atlanta United, and the University of Georgia.
Woods and McIlroy have commitments from players such as Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele.
At the indoor arena, players will hit drives into a simulated screen before playing their short-game shots in live action around sand traps and a green. Fans will watch in stands in the arena as well as on TV.
Blank is the third team owner announced so far. He joins the Los Angeles Golf Club, co-owned by sisters Serena Williams and Venus Williams, and a Boston franchise owned by Fenway Sports Group.
Tour reaches charity goal
Monahan said that the Tour’s stated goal in 2020 of raising $100 million for inclusion-related initiatives within 10 years has been reached in three years.
In addition, he said the Tour will reach $4 billion raised for charity since 1955 by next year.
The total to date is $124 million, with more than $82 million this year. There have been 360 new charitable partners identified and a total of 552 non-profits in communities where TOUR events are played have been impacted by the money raised. The Tour’s total charitable footprint so far is $3.64 billion.
One example of the initiative was donating $50,000 to help re-start the Edward Waters University women's golf program, part of more than $1.5 million in grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
PGA TOUR
Event: Tour Championship, Thursday-Sunday, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta.
At stake: $75 million purse ($18 million to the winner).
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m.; Saturday, 1-3 p.m.; Sunday, 12-1:30 p.m.); CBS (Saturday, 3-7 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30-6 p.m.).
Area players entered: Brian Harman.
Notable: McIlroy shot 63-66 on the weekend and beat Scottie Scheffler and Sungjae Im by one shot to become the first three-time FedEx Cup champion. … Scheffler enters East Lake No. 1 on the FedEx Cup points list for the second year in a row, and is 10-under par to start the first round on the strokes-assigned format. Viktor Hovland is second at 8-under, McIlroy third at 7-under and Jon Rahm fourth at 6-under. … Harman is eighth and starts the tournament at 4-under.
LPGA TOUR
Event: CPKC Women’s Open, Thursday-Sunday, Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, Vancouver, British Columbia.
At stake: $2.5 million purse ($375,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Paula Reto.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 6:30-9:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7-10 p.m.).
Area players entered: Amelia Lewis, Mel Reid.
Notable: Reto shot 62 in the first round and went on to beat Nelly Korda and Hye-Jin Choi by one shot. … Lewis, a Bolles graduate, is making her fourth start in five weeks.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Event: Ally Challenge, Friday-Sunday, Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich.
At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Steve Stricker.
TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 9:30-11:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30-4 p.m.).
Area players entered: David Duval, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Len Mattiace, Vijay Singh.
Notable: Stricker fired a 62 in the second round and went on to beat Dana Quigley by one shot.
KORN FERRY TOUR
Event: Albertson’s Boise Open, Thursday-Sunday, Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Id.
At stake: $1.5 million purse ($270,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Will Gordon.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday, 9:30-11:30 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.; Saturday, 11 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sunday, 4-6 p.m.).
Area players entered: Blayne Barber, A.J. Crouch, Jared Wolfe.
Notable: Gordon shot 63 in the final round, then beat former UNF star Philip Knowles and MJ Daffue with a par on the first playoff hole.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan can't say when LIV players will return
