Jay Monahan told to resign – ‘he’s destroyed everything’

Jay Monahan remains at the centre of the negotiations that will dictate the future of professional golf, but uncertainty still lingers over what his own future holds. 

The under-fire PGA Tour commissioner has faced withering criticism over the handling of his circuit’s peace talks with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) bankrolling LIV Golf.

He has long faced calls to resign – including from his own players – over the lack of transparency in the clandestine negotiations with PIF and LIV, which led to the June 6 ‘Framework Agreement‘.

Yet the 53-year-old, who was previously so outspoken against LIV, continues to lead the discussions with the ultimate aim of uniting the warring factions as one commercial entity.

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So could Monahan still be the man to steer the ship through the elite male game’s era-defining crossroads?

Hunter Mahan couldn’t be less convinced.

“Jay’s trying to pump the ship up after he just grounded it into the dock and destroyed everything,” the six-time PGA Tour winner told bunkered.co.uk.

“He’s trying to repaint everything and make it look as new. It’s a lot of ‘say one thing – and do another.’ ‘It’s a lot of ‘it’s a players tour’ but the players aren’t notified when the changes are made. I don’t know how he can continue with what’s going on.”

Monahan reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia last week for further talks with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan over a definitive agreement between the tours.

While the outcome of these negotiations are unclear, the decision-making on the PGA Tour has now swayed towards the players after Tiger Woods was announced as the sixth player on the Policy Board in August.

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The appointment of Woods in response to anger caused by the prospective merger means that the six voting player-directors now outnumber the five independent directors on the board.

And Mahan believes that player representation is imperative in these meetings that will dictate the sport’s long-term future.

“The players are realising they’ve had limited powers,” he stressed. “They should have representation in these meetings. If (Monahan’s) over there talking to Yasir – what! Who is there on our behalf? We act like Jay is acting on the players’ behalf and it’s just not true. Who is there for the players and why aren’t they having a real say? He’s lost control of the situation.

“The players are speaking out aggressively like I’ve never seen before. PGA Tour players don’t put their opinions out there. They’re very political and just want to go play golf, earn money and compete. But now everyone’s like: ‘He’s got to go.’ Multiple top players think this is wrong.

“They’ve done a really bad job of seeing the landscape and not adapting to it. They’re just reacting and they didn’t take it serious and aggressively. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Jay’s going to lose his job. He’s not going to get fired, but he’ll step down. They’re going to have to look for new leadership.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.