Jay Monahan 'Had The Right Answers' In Encouraging Player Meeting
Kevin Streelman was in the PAC meeting with Jay Monahan and says the PGA Tour commissioner was honest and had the right answers to their questions
Kevin Streelman was on the Player Advisory Council call with Jay Monahan - and says the returning PGA Tour commissioner "had the right answers" in an honest exchange of views.
Monahan has some serious work to do to earn the trust back that he's lost by shaking hands on a deal with the Saudi PIF without any of the players on the Tour knowing anything.
The playing membership feel left out and are now keen to get involved in decision-making going forward as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf and PIF move forward.
Streelman says the players requested the meeting with Monahan, where the commissioner admitted he didn't handle the PIF merger correctly, but apparently displayed a lot of honesty.
"I was in the Pro-Am, I had my Air Pods in and was - I was on the PAC call with Jay," said Streelman.
"I thought it went really well, to be honest. It was our request and he obliged that we get all the other executives off the phone and just kind of talk man to man and just needed some honesty, which he did.
"He told us what happened with his health, and he told us what's happened behind the scenes. He admitted the rollout wasn't done the way it should have been and we should have been involved. That's what we needed to hear."
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Streelman added that players on the PAC take their positions seriously, and in particular they felt left in the dark when the PGA Tour did the PIF deal without any input.
"We take our roles as PAC and advisors and board members, we do them for free, we do them because we love the Tour and we love the game. When things go on behind our backs, it just kind of hurts our feelings a little bit, hurts probably our egos a little bit because we care so much.
"So that was my biggest problem with all this that went on is we just didn't feel we were part of the team, we didn't feel we were listened to, we didn't feel something that drastically affects us, our families and our sponsors and legacies and our future, and just we care."
It seems Monahan hit the right note with the players when explaining his actions, and his memo released earlier in the week made various mentions of players being more involved in the future.
Streelman says it was an encouraging start and hopes players can now play a part in creating the future of men's professional golf.
"So the fact is it's a reality and hopefully it comes to a great settlement and that it's great for the game of golf and it's great for the future and it's great for kids and it's great for our sponsors. It's all we can hope for," he added.
"I was encouraged with the meeting. I texted Jay this morning and told him the same thing. I think we got a lot of our animosities and our words out last night, and he had the right answers and I think we can all move on and try and make something good work."
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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