PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan told to resign after latest PIF comments

PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan appeared to confirm there is no imminent deal with the financiers of LIV Golf. 

Monahan met with a small group of reporters on Wednesday ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Towards the end of the major season there were reports lightning had struck between the parties. 

But there have been no notable updates for months despite several meetings. 

At this same event 12 months ago, Monahan made his first public appearance since taking four weeks of medical leave owing to the stress from the fallout of the 6 June 2023 framework agreement announcement with the PIF of Saudi Arabia. 

Monahan appeared in much better spirits but it was clear that he wants to remain coy on the details. 

"They're very complicated discussions,'" Monahan said.

"There's a lot of elements to them. When you have the level of interaction, we're continuing to meet and move forward and discuss and debate, you can't be anything but hopeful."

"As it relates to times and timeframes and where we are, I'll just say we're in a good place with the conversations. That's the most important thing."

Monahan was asked if he had any more meetings with PIF officials planned.

"I have a lot of meetings on the subject," he said. "I'm not going to get into the specifics of it. 

"It's a clear focus of mine, it's a clear focus of the organization. That said, there is a lot of dialogue."

Doubts were cast on the PIF deal when the PGA Tour announced in January they had agreed a $3bn deal with the Strategic Sports Group. 

Some players suggested the private equity investment meant that the Tour no longer needed to strike a deal with LIV's backers. 

Monahan said: "If you had told me a year ago I’d be sitting here talking to all of you and we’d have a partner in SSG with the amount of experience they have in the sports and business world with capital behind them and now innovating into our business...to having that level of alignment with our players...it's really inspiring."

The most notable admission came when Monahan was asked about the PGA Tour's recently released 2025 schedule. 

It's essentially a carbon copy of the 2023-2024 season, with the Memorial Tournament moved back to its original date. 

Monahan was asked whether the schedule release indicates that there's not going to be a resolution at least through 2026 and going into 2027. 

"I think that's fair," he said. 

The latest comments from Monahan were certainly met with mixed responses from golf fans on X. 

Some suggested the PGA Tour have played this masterfully by ending the expensive litigation, delaying talks and hoping that PIF officials pull the plug on their excursion into men's professional golf. 

Others suggested Monahan shouldn't have a job. 

"They're just playing the long game with PIF to see what happens when contracts expire," one user said. "There's no rush."

This user wrote: "Should've resigned a long time ago." 

And this person blasted: "Can we get a new commissioner?"

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