'We Need A Commissioner' - Uncertainty Grows Over Monahan's Position Due To Health Issues

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is "stable and improving" from his still unspecified medical problem, but there is still huge uncertainty over whether he'll be able to return to oversee the deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

PGA Tour Policy Board member Peter Malnati was in that extended meeting ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit with top executives who continue to run the organisation while Monahan is away dealing with his medical problems.

Malnati lifted the lid on the details of the meeting in an interview with Golfweek, where Monahan's health was discussed and Policy Board chairman Ed Herlihy said a statement would be due soon - but there is still a question about whether the commissioner will return at all.

Given the current situation and the need to flesh out this agreement with the PIF, Malnati says they need a strong commissioner to see them through these testing times.

“The chairman of our board continued to say that the family has asked for a lot of privacy around that," Malnati told Golfweek.

"But he did indicate that as our leader, we at least need a statement relatively soon. We either need to know if he is wanting to return and we need to know that relatively soon. 

"So far, the only update we’ve got is that he is stable and improving. I don’t even know what he’s improving from, I don’t know what stable looks like. I know nothing. 

"It is a paradigm-changing, biggest deal since the creation of the PGA Tour, what 55 years ago and nobody knew about it. Like, that’s very frustrating. But Jay’s health is a bigger deal than that. Jay has a wife and two daughters. 

"Clearly, it doesn’t look awesome that you do the most surprising, shocking, some people would say shady deal in the history of our sport, and then you’re gone.

"But it’s real life, like whatever he’s struggling with is an actual real health issue. For the sake of his family, I hope that we’re able to respect that but if his health isn’t improving enough for him to come back and lead relatively soon, we also need to know. 

"We need a strong leader at the Tour and we do have a very capable executive team but at some point, we’re going to need a commissioner who is both skilled within the organization and public facing as well. 

"And we have the team within the organization now to keep the wheels turning really successfully and leading us. But we need a commissioner."

'Some guys out for blood with LIV returners'

Malnati says the PGA Tour "understands that they have messed up and there’s a huge divide from a trust perspective between them and the membership."

The fact that "more than 95 percent of our sponsors are still enthusiastically committed to the PGA Tour" was a comfort, but some huge sticking points remain around LIV Golf and specifically how their players would return to the PGA Tour.

"The two big questions that are on absolutely everyone’s mind," Malnati added. "Is what happens to the guys who left and want to come back? And what happens to the guys who stayed and how do we thank them? 

"All I will say is there are committees formed to answer those questions as we move forward and those committees are going to involve players, which is going to be really nice.

Player involvement is a theme, and Malnati says that they are even trying to change the PGA Tour bylaws so current players can be part of the disciplinary process that would draw-up just how LIV players would be reintegrated and what sanctions they would face first.

"We raised the idea of changing bylaws to allow players to serve on the committee that will determine that and I think that’s something that the players who feel like they’ve been betrayed by this. 

"There’s certainly some guys who are out for blood. They want vengeance, you know, whatever. Especially the ones who sued, that had their name on the lawsuit against the Tour. 

"They set themselves up as adversaries to us. They are the ones who took money directly out of the PGA Tour. There’s a desire to have some feeling of fairness, if guys were to come back onto the Tour.

"That’ll be a really complicated thing but I think it’s important to note that we took steps to open up the door for players to be on both those committees, the committees to determine how to reward the loyalty of the players who stayed and to come up with a disciplinary plan that would allow people to come back fairly."