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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan called a hypocrite in ‘heated’ players meeting after surprise LIV Golf merger

Not even Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, two of the biggest names on the PGA Tour, knew about the merger with LIV Golf ahead of time

ryan young
Staff writer
·6 min read
3.2k

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced plans for a merger on Tuesday morning, and it seems that the sport’s biggest names were just as stunned by the move as the rest of the golf world.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund director Yasir Al-Rumayyan made the announcement in a joint appearance on CNBC on Tuesday morning, which officially ended a contentious battle between the longstanding golf league and the controversial startup.

While there is still plenty to be figured out, this deal was done in near-total secrecy. Very, very few people knew it was even being discussed ahead of time, and many golfers learned of the decision on social media. Monahan said Tuesday afternoon that the deal was negotiated over a seven-week period, and that it wasn’t set until Monday night. He and two other Tour board members were the only ones in the room, and no players were involved.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, who reportedly won’t have a place in the new league, apparently learned of the merger in a phone call just before the announcement.

Even Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy didn’t know until Tuesday morning, according to the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. McIlroy has been perhaps the biggest opponent of LIV Golf since before its inception. Players, Monahan said, weren’t involved in these talks because the deal with LIV Golf is simply a “framework agreement.”

Monahan holds contentious players meeting in Toronto, called a ‘hypocrite’

After making the announcement, Monahan flew to Toronto to hold a players meeting at Oakdale Country Club, where the RBC Canadian Open is being played this week.

Apparently, it didn’t go very well.

The meeting, Monahan said, was “intense” and “heated." One player in the meeting actually called Monahan a “hypocrite” to his face, Geoff Ogilvy told the Golf Channel. Monahan, according to Ogilvy, just “took it.”

"I'm glad I wasn't Jay today," Ogilvy said.

Considering how he pushed back against LIV Golf up until the past few weeks — Monahan once invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks in defending the Tour over LIV Golf — it’s easy to understand why he’d be called that.

“I recognize everything I’ve said in the past in my past positions,” he said, via Golf Magazine’s Sean Zak. “I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything I said it with the information I had in the moment.”

As for why he wanted to make a move now and end the battle between the two golf leagues, Monahan said he simply felt it was better to work with Saudi Arabia and its PIF than try to compete with the league they were funding.

“If you just look at just the environment that we’re in, the PIF was controlling LIV, and we were competing against LIV,” Monahan said, via CBS Sports’ Adam Silverstein. “I felt very good about the changes we’ve made and the position that we were in, but ultimately, to take the competitor off the board — to have them exist as a partner, not an owner — and for us to be able to control the direction going forward put us in a position as the PGA Tour to do and serve our members, and at the same time, again, get to a productive position for the game at large.”

Monahan was also asked about Tour players who may be angry that they didn’t jump to LIV Golf initially now and secure a big signing bonus, since those golfers will now be allowed to return to the Tour — though it’s still unclear exactly how that’s going to work.

Phil Mickelson, for example, reportedly received a $200 million signing bonus when he left the Tour.

Monahan didn't have much of an answer.

“Those players who have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I’m confident they made the right decision,” he replied, via Golf Digest’s Joel Beall.

Jay Monahan
Hours after the surprise announcement that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour were merging, Jay Monahan flew to Toronto to meet with Tour members. (Mike Wolfe/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Golfers blown away on Twitter as news breaks

Plenty of golfers on either side of the debate were stunned on social media on Tuesday morning.

Collin Morikawa learned of the merger on social media, and plenty of others felt like they were betrayed by the decision. Other LIV Golf members like Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, however, were quick to celebrate.

Ben An couldn’t resist a jab at Hideki Matsuyama, too, after the former Masters winner was spotted flying Spirit Airlines following the Memorial Tournament last week.