Jay Monahan discusses ‘ebbs and flows’ of PGA-LIV talks, tempo of play

Commissioner Jay Monahan insisted on Tuesday that progress is being made in the PGA Tour’s communications with the upstart LIV circuit. It just comes with “ebbs and flows,” he said.

Monahan also was quick to praise President Trump for his involvement as a facilitator in the negotiations. Trump has hosted two White House meetings with Monahan, PGA Tour player director Adam Scott and Saudi businessman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Those meetings have come nearly two years after Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), shocked the sports world by announcing a “framework agreement” to have the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf merge. The sides have been unable to progress to a final agreement.

“The talks are real, they’re substantial, and they’re being driven at the top levels of both organizations,” Monahan told reporters on Tuesday in advance of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“Those talks have been significantly bolstered by President Trump’s willingness to serve as a facilitator. President Trump is a lifelong golf fan. He believes strongly in the game’s power and potential, and he has been exceedingly generous with his time and influence to help bring a deal together.

“He wants to see the game reunified. We want to see the game reunified. His involvement has made the prospect of reunification very real.”

Monahan, 54, even had praise for Al-Rumayyan.

“We can see a future where we welcome him onto our board and work together to move the global game forward.” said Monahan, who added that “we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform.”

Monahan, however, deflected multiple questions about golf’s split into two entities.

“We’re committed to these negotiations and to doing everything that we can to drive to reunification for our fans,” he said. “That said, we’re not going to do anything that diminishes the strength of our platform or that momentum that we have with our fans and partners.”

Another pivotal topic on Tuesday was pace of play, with the PGA Tour set to begin publishing statistics related to the speed of the game later this year.

“It’s easy to identify the problem,” Monahan said. “It’s a little bit harder to find the solution just given the depth and breadth of everything that goes into pace of play, but we are committed to finding the right solutions and making progress on that front.”

–Field Level Media