Jay Monahan under fire as his massive salary leaks online

Golf fans have reacted angrily after details of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s salary were leaked online.

Media outlet Sportico has revealed Monahan earned over $23million in regular and deferred compensation in 2023, according to a copy of PGA Tour Inc’s 2023 tax return.

That includes $12.1m in bonus and incentive compensation, $2.5m in estimated post-retirement benefits and $6.7m in post-2023 long-term incentive compensation.

His base salary, meantime, was $1,887,096.

That would have put him inside the top-80 in official money on the PGA Tour in 2024, with his total take-home bettered only by Scottie Scheffler.

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The filing also shows that the tour’s chief operating officer, Ronald Price, earned more than $13m in regular and deferred compensation, including bonuses and incentives worth $7.8m.

The return covers the six-month periods before and after the tour announced plans, in June 2023, to merge with the LIV Golf League, each settling costly lawsuits with the other in the process.

Monahan has endured heavy criticism for negotiating that deal behind the backs of the tour’s membership, with his handling of the emergent threat posed by LIV also being condemned.

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Following news of his salary leaking online, several fans were quick to jump onto social media to voice their disgust at Monahan’s earnings.

One said: “My brain can’t even comprehend this. Jay Monahan making $23m. Loses half their elite players and 3 of their longest and most loyal PGA Tour sponsors and still rakes it in as ratings plummet. Made more than Rory! Great job if you can get it.”

Another added: “Worst commissioner in pro sports. It’s ridiculous he still has a job. Let a rival league take half his top players and he’s losing sponsors left and right.”

A third insisted: “There’s no one more overpaid in the world than Jay.”

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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