Jay Monahan’s current LIV Golf thoughts? “I’m getting blue in the face on this!”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has spoken about his current thoughts on the LIV Golf Tour, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Greg Norman.
Jay Monahan has once again re-iterated the PGA Tour cannot come together with Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Invitational Series as he stated he feels he is “getting blue in the face” about what he is trying to protect.
Monahan has given a wide-ranging interview with ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. The embattled Tour commissioner spoke on a number of topic’s including Norman’s most recent visit to Capitol Hill where he put the case for LIV before lawmakers.
He also beamed with pride about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s involvement. He described them as: “Two icons of the game taking responsibility by bringing guys together and continuing to think of ways to improve the PGA Tour.”
In the interview, just some of the takeaways include:
- It’s “impractical” for LIV and the PGA Tour to come together
- He doesn’t believe the PGA Tour and LIV Golf can co-exist
- He “didn’t make much” of Norman’s visit to Capitol Hill
- Monahan would urge aspiring PGA Tour players to “know with certainty” what they’re getting into if they join LIV
Here are some key bits:
Some players have said that the tour and LIV need to come together. What is your opinion?
Monahan: “Well, I think words and actions are important. I think it’s impractical when you look at the fact that certain players have sued the PGA Tour, their employer has sued the PGA Tour. It’s not in the cards. It hasn’t been in the cards and it’s not in the cards. I think we’ve been pretty consistent on that front.”
Can the PGA Tour and LIV Golf coexist?
Monahan: “I’d provide the same answer. The answer to that is they’ve gone down their path and I think we have been pretty consistent that we’re going down ours, and I don’t see that happening. Haven’t, and I don’t.”
What did you make of LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman’s recent visit to Capitol Hill?
Monahan: “We’ve been going to Capitol Hill multiple times a year for well before I got to the PGA Tour, and I didn’t and I don’t make much of it. If you go back to July 2, 1974, when the PGA Tour was granted [nonprofit] status, it’s something that we take great pride in. If you look back since that point in time, we’ve raised over $3.3 billion for charities, and we have promoted the values of the game, the competitive spirit of the game, and every constituency, every market here across all of our tours has benefited from that [nonprofit] status. We feel very strongly and we take very seriously, that responsibility.
“So anybody that wants to attack it, we’re very comfortable to tell our story and not only our story today, but the continued incredible work that we’re going to do to benefit people and communities going forward.”
Elsewhere, Monahan was pressed on Woods and McIlroy’s involvement after their orchestrated a meeting of the Tour’s biggest stars before last season’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.
He said of their involvement: “At the end of the day for me, and I feel like I’m getting blue in the face on this, but the competitive framework here and the integrity of that is so important. And that’s what those players are trying to protect. And so to me, understand, respecting history, respecting tradition, honoring it at the same time, figuring out how we can evolve in a way that actually improves upon that is the absolute right way of going about things.
Article originally appeared on: Golfmagic.com
I have limited exposure to the LIV but have seen them on Television. Sorry PGA but they are a lot more fun to watch than you are. They are all name players, have multiple contests going at the same time, only play 3 rounds, the television jumps from group to group depending on where the action is and you get to see all of the players not just the ones the PGA directs the TV company to watch
Strange how he does not see any chance for compromise.. I guess he’s happy with Sepp Straka and a bunch of no names at the top of his leaderboards..And in the end, he will end up losing the battle as the PGA does not have the same anti trust rules as major league baseball.. Not to mention, the PGA and several of its players take money from the Saudis and Chinese in appearance fees and other income..Which if I am correct , taking money from corrupt countries, is the gist of their argument.. Right??
GREG NORMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHING WITHOUT THE PGA. I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY HE IS DETERMINED TO DESTROY THE ONLY THING THST MADE HIM A VERY RICH MAN. HE PROBLEY WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHING MORE THAN A CLUB PRO. AFTER WATCHING HIM IN ACTION WHEN HE VISITED OUR CITY HE WAS THE MOST UNPLEASANT AND ARROGANT PRO I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE TO WATCH.
1- Turn off the caps, it’s annoying.
2- name one successful athlete that’s not arrogant.
3- how does competition and a free market approach destroy anything?
The PGA WILL LOSE THIS ONE. THE LIV IS MORE EXCITING AND IF THEY GET A TV PARTNER WILL PUT THE PGA OUT OF BUSINESS
I’m all for a competitive circuit like LIV golf. I wonder what happens when the two golfer who went right to LIV and then after a couple of years playing at LIV decide to play the PGA tour ? They never played the PGA tour so they cannot be suspended. So Mr. Monahan what do you say about that situation ?
I meant to say about the 2 golfers who went to LIV right out of college