Jay Monahan faces calls to resign from “furious” PGA Tour pros

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan faced calls to resign tonight following news that the circuit has brokered a peace agreement with LIV Golf.

According to eye-witnesses in the room at a players’ meeting that was hastily convened following this afternoon’s bombshell announcement, the suggestion that Monahan be removed from his post was met with applause and a standing ovation.

One pro, Johnson Wagner, told the Golf Channel: “There was a lot of anger in that room from players. The players were calling for resignation.”

The three-time PGA Tour winner also estimated that the feeling towards Monahan from those in the room was 90% negative.

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Afterwards, Monahan spoke to the media where he was asked about his position.

“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” he said. “Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.

“I accept those criticisms. But circumstances do change. I think that in looking at the big picture and looking at it this way, that’s what got us to this point.”

Monahan also confirmed reports that Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods – both of whom have been prominent in defending the PGA Tour following LIV’s emergence a year ago – knew nothing of the proposed merger until the news broke earlier today.

“This was us reaching a framework agreement,” he said. “We think it’s the right agreement.”

Monahan’s U-turn on LIV is particularly extraordinary given how aggressive a stance he had taken against it.

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A year ago, as LIV staged its first-ever event near London, he even referenced the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an unapologetic attempt to associate the Saudi Arabian source of the new circuit’s wealth with those responsible for the atrocities in New York.

“I think you’d have to be living under a rock to not know there are significant implications and as it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones,” he said back then.

So, what’s changed?

“I looked at where we were at that point in time, and it was the right point in time to have a conversation,” he added. “Utimately, it was looking at the broader picture and saying that I don’t think it’s right or sustainable to have this tension in our sport, and to be able to organize and orient this in a way where we’re in a control position.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor